This series was always going to be a battle over officiating: the lobbying, the acknowledgement of talent, the need to be physical, but be smart and everything that comes with it.
The tone was set for this game after two Austin Reaves attempts trying to draw fouls in the first quarter (a wayward 3-point shot, then a tumble out of bounds during a live-ball turnover). JJ Redick called a timeout, blew up Ben Taylor for a technical foul with the Lakers facing their first double-digit deficit and then watched his team close the quarter on a 7-0 run.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spent much of the first three quarters in foul trouble. His third foul took place just as the Lakers erased Oklahoma City’s 11-point deficit in the second quarter, and with Gilgeous-Alexander sitting on only three field goals. The Lakers took a 58-57 lead into halftime.
The most critical sequence of the game happened in the third quarter, after Gilgeous-Alexander’s fourth foul came with a Flagrant Foul drawn by Reaves. Perhaps the emotional meter changed on that sequence, because Alex Caruso got a tech from the bench and Mark Daigneault blew a challenge and a timeout on Gilgeous-Alexander’s fourth foul. Gilgeous-Alexander got sent to the bench, Reaves made three free throws, and the Lakers led 66-61 with 10:34 left in the third quarter.
The fact that it was all downhill for the Lakers from there represents their biggest missed opportunity. The Thunder wound up mopping the floor with the Lakers, both without Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench and when Gilgeous-Alexander came back for the fourth quarter. Perhaps the Lakers will be more even-keeled when they return to Los Angeles, but they had their opportunity, and instead, Oklahoma City will take a 2-0 lead with the Thunder rolling.
