OKLAHOMA CITY–The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-96, on Sunday, October 30.
The young Lakers core was unable to match the dominance of Russell Westbrook, who tallied his second triple-double in a row with 33 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. Westbrook was coming off of a historic game in which he totaled 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first player to record a 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975.
Los Angeles failed to shoot the ball with much efficiency, making just 7 of 32 three-point attempts. Starting forward Luol Deng failed to register a basket for the first time in over 10 seasons.
The youthful Lakers managed to find positivity in their loss, with forward Julius Randle citing the team’s chemistry as an indispensable strength.
“Just everyone was aggressive and all on the same page. Just playing in our system,” said Randle after the loss.
D’Angelo Russell scored 20 points, while adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Lakers. Julius Randle chipped in 20 points as well, to go along with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
Victor Oladipo totaled 20 points, and Steven Adams scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who move to 3-0 on the season in the wake of the departure of Kevin Durant.
Los Angeles has gone 1-2 to start the season, and now travels to Indiana to face the Pacers on Tuesday, November 1.
