Nuggets and Notes
On the second night of a back-to-back, with a national TV audience (sans YouTube TV subscribers...), against a trendy pick to threaten the defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely, utterly, 100% roasted the Los Angeles Lakers.
The final score was 121-92, but OKC led by as many as 37.
Shai Gilgeous Alexander: 30 points, 29 minutes, 20 shots. Luka Doncic: 19 points, 33 minutes, 20 shots.
Let's analyze the scouting report from one Lakers fan:
Comment
by u/denobino from discussion
in lakers
SGA took 8 free throws. They did not stand a chance.
The Lakers came in averaging over 116 points per game. The Lakers failed to even hit triple digits for the first time all season.
You know how sometimes the Thunder are in a competitive game and then just flip the switch and overwhelm an opponent for like 5-10 minutes to put the game out of reach? Well, OKC basically did that for 36 minutes. The Thunder won the first three quarters, and by the time the bench took the reins in the fourth, OKC was up 100-64 (not a typo).
The Thunder defense was playoff-level dialed in. The Lakers went without a bucket for 8 minutes in the second quarter as Oklahoma City just straight suffocated Los Angeles.
It really was the defense that led the charge. Strong defense plus hot three-point shooting led the way against the Warriors, but against the Lakers, the Thunder shot just 31% from deep, but still whipped the Lakers thanks in large part to the defense, which forced 14 steals and 20 turnovers.
And OKC was without two All-Defense players... Jalen Williams and Lu Dort.
So yeah, the Lakers were without Lebron. OKC was without Dub and Dort.
I am loving flamethrower Isaiah Joe so far this season. He's instant offense–you don't need to even microwave him. He comes out hot.
Ajay Mitchell yet again led the Thunder in steals.
Speaking of Ajay:
OKC got AI generated players that can create their own shot making $3M a year and we paying Vando/Gabe/Kleber $34M this season
— LakersMuse (@LALMuse) November 13, 2025
Shouts to Ousmane Dieng who led the bench brigade in the fourth. Dieng made the most of extended minutes and had a season high 10 points in 15 minutes on 5-of-8 shooting.
After OKC showed the gap between them and the Warriors, OKC showed the gap between them and the Lakers. Yeah, one game sample size but man, the gap could be large. When the Thunder is on, how many teams could win 4 of 7 against them?
Shai tied Russell Westbrook for second-most 30-point games in franchise history with 189.
Here's what would terrify me if I'm any Thunder opponent: this team does not look at all like it's carrying the weight of defending its title. The team is playing free, having fun, and just balling. It's November, so there's a lot of season left, but these guys are just going out and playing basketball. And boy are they good at basketball.
One Key Takeaway
I'm actually going to give you guys two key takeaways. And it's just these two clips. I even turned on the "loop" feature so you can just watch them over and over.