Thunder pull away from Lakers again to take 3-0 series lead

The Thunder-Lakers series hasn't been close.

(Harry How via Getty Images)

It will be the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, barring the most shocking comeback in the history of the NBA.

With a 131-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder took a 3-0 lead on Saturday and remain undefeated through seven postseason games. They are 27-1 since the start of February in games Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played.

They go for the sweep on Monday in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video). No team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

The Lakers put up a fight for most of the game, The first half was back-and-forth and L.A. actually entered halftime with the lead, but they lost control when OKC opened the third quarter with a 21-6 run. They got the deficit back down to five points late in the third, and then the Thunder hit the gear only the Thunder are capable of hitting.

The Lakers waved the white flag by emptying their bench with 3:38 remaining in the game.

Once again, the Lakers succeeded in preventing an otherworldly game from Gilgeous-Alexander (23 points on 7-of-20 shooting), but OKC’s deep supporting cast again made that a non-issue. Six other players scored in double figures, and the team collectively shot 56.4% from the field and 44.7% from deep, with nine total turnovers.

There’s no telling how this series would have gone down had Luka Dončić been healthy (or Thunder star Jalen Williams for that matter), but the actual result has been as expected. The Lakers have pushed the Thunder at times, but never enough across an entire game. Every loss has been by double-digits.