Thursday night’s game between the Lakers and Thunder had plenty of promise on paper. Oklahoma City is the top team in the West and the reigning champion, but Los Angeles has been playing its best basketball of the year, holding firm to the No. 3 spot in the conference through an absolutely electric month of March.
Very quickly though, it became apparent that this was not going to be the playoff preview fans had hoped, with the Thunder jumping out to a 44–21 lead in the first quarter and never looking back. The deficit was painful enough, but things got far worse for Lakers fans a few minutes after halftime when Luka Dončić limped off the court with an apparent injury.
