Short-Handed Lakers Thump Thunder 125-110

On the heels of crushing the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves on the receiving end of a beat down Saturday from the short-handed Lakers. The Lakers, with no LeBron James or Anthony Davis, shredded the Thunder 125-110.

The final score isn't as close as it looks. The Thunder were suffering from a lack of energy in the first half being outrebounded 29-14; not only were the Lakers crashing the boards, but they were also killing Oklahoma City from beyond the arc shooting an astounding 76.9 percent from three.

Is this a good lesson for the younger guys?

Chris Paul: “It ain’t just for the younger guys, it’s for all of us. Me too. ...” pic.twitter.com/isq3dVgBbz
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 12, 2020

It would be one thing if Davis and James were in the lineup. But, this was Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma, who were doing the damage. Rondo, who started in place of James, took advantage of the extra time to score 17 first-half points (fished with 21). It didn't matter who was guarding him most of the time it was Terrance Ferguson who was having a heck of a time fighting through picks and always seemed to be a step slow getting to Rondo before he shot. Billy Donovan was asked if his message needed to change since the Lakers' two best players were on the bench. " "We're coming out of a four-game road swing, it's a back to back the last part of the trip."..."The last game goes into overtime, and you have to come back and play a very emotional game against Houston." Donovan didn't think it was because of a lack of effort; however, he did think the Lakers were the aggressor and had Oklahoma City back on their heals.

The effort continues! @BazleyDarius 💥 off the bench. https://t.co/aORxMlq9cw pic.twitter.com/rOZgAqbLXU
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 12, 2020

If it wasn't Rondo, it was Kyle Kuzma playing the role of Thunder killer. Kuzma averages 12 points per game; on Saturday, he went for 36. He was 4 of 6 from three, including a 26 foot pull up with 2:30 left that put the nail in the Thunder's coffin. In an 82 game season, there will be nights that belong to the other team. You delete the game video and move on to your next opponent. Don't expect the Thunder to operate that way, Donovan says, "I never just like saying, hey, were going to flush this and not even talk about it.".."There's a standard you want to, and for us, we can look, and measure was that the standard we are capable of playing at?". Danilo Gallinari was a little more evident with his response to the same question. "If you want to win against very good teams, you have to play for 48 and bring it since the beginning."

Danilo Gallinari on playing small ball center: “If I was playing center, that means that something (went) wrong in the game.” pic.twitter.com/PM0cE7nSyp
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 12, 2020

The Thunder will have a day to get this one out of their system for playing the Timberwolves on Monday. Tipoff is at 7 pm on Fox Sports Oklahoma.