Game Recap: Thunder 131, Lakers 108
Ajay Mitchell’s career night propels the Thunder to a 3-0 series lead with a 131-108 win over the Lakers.
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Come for the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Stay for the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell and the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard.
In Game 3 of this Western Conference semifinal between the Thunder and Lakers, Holmgren continued his dominance; Wallace couldn’t miss – literally – in the first half; Mitchell was a scoring machine in the second half; Hachimura extended his 3-point heater and Kennard rediscovered his shooting touch.
And when four quarters were spent, a familiar chorus sang loud: the Thunder’s depth, punishing defense and versatile offensive efficiency – combined with another strong second half and too many Lakers turnovers – resulted in Oklahoma City’s third consecutive double-digit victory against Los Angeles.
The Thunder topped the Lakers 131-108 in Game 3 Saturday, taking a 3-0 series lead. No team trailing 3-0 in 161 series has come back to win the next four games.
Game 4 is Monday (10:30 ET, Prime Video).
“I’m not giving up on the series, and we’re going to go try to win on Monday,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’re going to try to extend the series, and we’re going to try to take this thing back to OKC.”
Here are four takeaways from the Thunder’s Game 3 victory.
1. Holmgren stars again
Gilgeous-Alexander was the 2024-25 Kia MVP and very well could win the award again this season. But Holmgren has been the MVP of this series.
The 7-foot-1 big, a first-time All-Star this season, had 18 points, nine rebounds and was 9-for-10 on shots inside the 3-point line. The Lakers haven’t found a counter to Holmgren’s dominance.
What a tuff shot 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QkOkX3NvXM
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 10, 2026
Before Game 3, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault called Holmgren a monster.
“If you look at him in his first playoffs his rookie season, and then his playoffs last year in his second season when he was coming off an injury and now you’re getting him in year three on the court fully formed, healthy, stronger, more aware of what the playoffs are and what the games require,” Daigneault said. “And he’s been outstanding. His impact has been everywhere – offense, defense around the basket, on the perimeter, both ends of the floor. … Big-time winner.”
2. Gilgeous-Alexander effective enough
Gilgeous-Alexander started the game shooting 3-for-13 from the field.
A focal point of the Lakers’ game plan focused on slowing him down.
“You’ve got to be willing to live with something. Shai playing 1-on-1, thus far in the series, we haven’t been willing to live with,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick.
Still, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and delivered nine assists, including six in the third quarter when the Thunder erased a deficit and took control.
It was his best game of the series. In the two previous games, the Thunder outscored the Lakers by 14 points with Gilgeous-Alexander on the court, and in Game 3, they outscored the Lakers by 24 with him on the court.
“His poise and confidence are contagious,” Daigneault said. “It’s only become more contagious as his gravity has grown over time. I give him a lot of credit. It’s the way that he has not fought the games in this series with the double teams.
“The double-teams, they reeled those back tonight, but in the first two games, they were doubling him quite aggressively, and it’s really put his teammates at an advantage.”
3. In praise of the Thunder depth once again
Ajay Mitchell scores 24 points in a pivotal Game 3 victory for OKC.
Redick knows the question is coming postgame and has the answer. What is it like trying to overcome Oklahoma City’s depth?
“Typically, if you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution,” he said. “This team in-game, because of the personnel, can adjust just like that. They need shooting on the floor? Great.
“They need multiple wing defenders on the floor? Great. They need two bigs on the floor? Great. They’re a terrific basketball team.”
Ajay Mitchell, 23, barely played in last season’s playoffs and has emerged as an important contributor who is now starting in place of the injured Jalen Williams.
Mitchell scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and was 10-for-17 shooting with 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Cason Wallace, a top-notch defender, made his first four 3-pointers and had 16 points. Isaiah Joe scored 12 points, Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and nine rebounds, Lu Dort had 10 points and Alex Caruso did Alex Caruso work with six points, three steals, two rebounds, two assists and three fouls.
“There’s a lot of choices,” Daigneault said. “That’s obviously a very good problem to have. I trust everybody. What makes it easier is the guys’ commitment to the team and their willingness to embrace the team nature of this team. They’re always ready to go. They root for each other’s success.”
Oklahoma City’s bench outscored Los Angeles’ 44-31, and the Thunder shot 56.4% from the field and 44.7% on 3-pointers.
4. Lakers fade in second half … again
Hachimura opened the game with a made 3-pointer and ended up 5-for-8 from that range with 21 points. For the series, Hachimura is 7-for-12 on 3s, and through nine playoff games, he is 29-for-50 on 3s. Luke Kennard started the playoffs hot with 50 points in the first two games against Houston, then cooled off and got hot against the Thunder in Game 3 with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
But James (19 points, eight assists) and Austin Reaves (17 points, nine assists) were a combined 12-for-32 shooting with eight turnovers.
Created chaos and cashed in ✔️ pic.twitter.com/iVIe5kjaBS
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 10, 2026
Turnovers have hampered Los Angeles’ ability to keep games close. The Lakers committed 17 turnovers leading to 30 Thunder points. The Thunder outscored the Lakers 33-20 in the third quarter and turned six Lakers turnovers into 10 points.
Several statistics reveal the story, including those mentioned above. Here are two more: Oklahoma City has outscored the Lakers 76-41 in points off turnovers and outscored them 189-135 in the second half, including 74-49 in Game 3.
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at [email protected], find his archive here and follow him on X.
