On a day defined by a trade that set up the Los Angeles Lakers for the future, the purple and gold thrashed Paul George and the Oklahoma City in front of a star-studded STAPLES Center crowd, 106-81.
Of course, George is set to be a free agent and likely one of the targets for the Lakers in the upcoming summer, so the victory capped off a positive day in Laker Land.
To start the game, George came guns blazing and made six of his first seven shots to finish with 16 points in the opening quarter. Without Carmelo Anthony or Russell Westbrook available for the Thunder, George seemed like he was due for a big night and ready to show why he may slot into one of the maximum salary slots the Lakers had effectively opened up with the trade earlier in the day.
Charged by George's fast start, the Thunder pushed ahead by 11 points early before Julius Randle led the Lakers' charge. Randle scored 11 points in the opening quarter and helped the Lakers take a three-point leader by the time the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the period.
In the second quarter, the Lakers began to strike gold from distance and, consequently, increase the difference betweent the two teams. After missing all seven three-pointers in the first quarter, the Lakers converted six of their 11 three-point attempts in the second quarter and built out a lead that grew as large as 12 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit three of his four attempts in the quarter to spur the Lakers' hot hot shooting.
However, sloppy play and a late Thunder run saw the Lakers leading by only six points at the halftime intermission.
In the third quater, Brandon Ingram continued the Lakers' long range assault with a trio of three-pointers to pop his points total up to 17 for the game, along with five assists. With Randle also playing his usually effective brand of bully ball, the Lakers built out a 20-point lead at the closing stages of the third quarter.
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By the end of three quarters, the Lakers led by 17 points and only needed to stay the course. A couple minutes into the quarter, the lead was back up to 21 points, and Oklahoma City looked like it was on the canvas with little chance of getting back up for a fight.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan would stay with his starters for a few minutes longer, but Oklahoma City's reserves played out the final six minutes of the blowout defeat.
With the victory, the Lakers won their eighth straight home game and 12th game in their last 16 over all. The Lakers improved to 23-31 on the season, while the Thunder dropped to 31-25.
Notes: Caldwell-Pope finished as the Lakers' top scorer with 20 points, along with seven rebounds. Five different Lakers scored in double figures. Rookie Josh Hart broke his streak of double-doubles but finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists. George finished the game with 29 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the loss.
