Lakers Lose 101-93 to Thunder. Knecht Scores 20, but LeBron, AD Combine for Just 27 Points

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

There were plenty of things to like about the way the Lakers played Friday against Oklahoma City, despite losing 101-93 to the Thunder. Most of them have to do with improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Low bar to clear, of course, but the Lakers played as good a game defensively as they have in a while, against arguably the NBA's best team.

Unfortunately, the Lakers collapsed offensively, and against a high-pressure OKC squad that leads the league in forced turnovers... the Lakers were forced into a lot of turnovers. And, as turnovers often do, they came at inopportune times. It's become a bit of a pattern, but the Lakers again struggled in late quarter situations, and did some self-destructing down the stretch, costing themselves possessions and opportunities to score.

Austin Reaves, who did play through some obvious discomfort after taking a nasty fall in the first half, finished with five turnovers. LeBron James had five as well, which has been his average over the last two-plus weeks. James and Anthony Davis combined for 27 points, which is about half of what they normally produce. Reaves, 1-9 from 3-point range, only added 11. That's a lot to overcome for an offense that doesn't have a ton of scoring depth. Dalton Knecht and D'Angelo Russell (37, combined) did their best, but LA will almost always need more from James and Davis to win games. And as it was in the San Antonio game, the Lakers found it hard to play through Davis in ways that left him in good position to score.

They need to get back to an offense that produces more from their best player.

So discouraging, because it felt like the Lakers robbed themselves of chances to score a big win. Encouraging, because it felt like the win was there.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

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