Behind 24 from Ajay Mitchell, Thunder pull away from Lakers in second half to win 131-108

LOS ANGELES — There comes a point in almost every series where one coach realizes he's beaten, he's thrown every conventional lineup and attacked every matchup he could, and nothing has worked. So, the coach tries something desperate.

Midway through the third quarter of Game 3, with the game and the season slipping away, Lakers coach JJ Redick went small, playing without a center and playing Adou Thiero against a big Thunder team. It worked for a minute, the Lakers went on a 7-0 run and the home crowd — desperate for something to cheer for — got loud. Just as quickly, Ajay Mitchell settled the Thunder down, they made a couple of 3-pointers, and the Thunder's lead was back up to double digits.

"Typically, you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series. There's a good chance they might have, like a temporary solution, or can sort of adjust, maybe a little bit," Lakers coach JJ Redick said. "This [Thunder] team — in-game because of their personnel — they just adjust. They need shooting on the floor, great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor, great. They need two bigs on the floor, great. It's just, they're a terrific basketball team."

Game 3 felt like a replay of Game 2 — the Lakers did a lot of good things in the first half, but the Thunder's talent and depth won out in the end.

Oklahoma City pulled away for its biggest win of the series, 131-108, and now has a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Thunder have now won seven consecutive playoff games, a franchise record.

Game 4 is Monday night in Los Angeles and the Lakers will try to find something to keep their season alive.

Once again, it was the Thunder depth that was the difference. Jalen Williams, an All-NBA player a season ago, remains out with a hamstring strain, so Mitchell again stepped into a starting role, and this time dropped a team-best 24 points with 10 assists. He was particularly strong in the second half, when Oklahoma City needed him most.