On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers went down 0-3 in their second round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a blowout 131-108 loss at home in Game 3. The Lakers once again kept things competitive in the first half before falling apart in the third quarter, and are now on the verge of being the second victim of an Oklahoma City sweep in these playoffs.
It's been a rough series thus far for Deandre Ayton, who scored 10 points and grabbed just six rebounds in Game 3, and at one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers center gave up two straight offensive rebounds to Oklahoma City. Immediately afterward, ESPN cameras appeared to catch Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick telling an assistant that he “Can't play him,” referring to Ayton, via Chaz NBA on YouTube.
The viral clip reminded some of a 2018 moment in which then Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan appeared to say that he couldn't play big man Enes Kanter amid his own struggles in a game against the Houston Rockets, per Thomas Duffy of Bleacher Report.
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Overall, while his sequence in the fourth quarter on Saturday night was not his finest moment, Ayton has been far from the only issue for the Lakers in this series. Los Angeles has routinely found ways to stick around for the first couple of quarters in these games, only to see the Thunder's superior depth and cohesion ultimately win out in the second half.
While the Lakers have been making a concerted and mostly successful effort to keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of the scoring column, this has resulted in numerous easy opportunities for his teammates, resulting in the 131-point total for the Thunder on Saturday.
Oklahoma City will go for the sweep when Game 4 gets underway on Monday evening from Los Angeles.
On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers went down 0-3 in their second round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a blowout 131-108 loss at home in Game 3. The Lakers once again kept things competitive in the first half before falling apart in the third quarter, and are now on the verge of being the second victim of an Oklahoma City sweep in these playoffs.