Thunder roll to dominant win over LeBron James, Lakers to grab early 1-0 lead

Thunder roll to dominant win over LeBron James, Lakers to grab early 1-0 lead

It took a second, but the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled to a very convincing win on Tuesday night.

The Thunder, after a full week off, cruised to a blowout 108-90 win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. That gave them the early 1-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinals series.

While the Lakers got off to a quick start, and James had 12 points in the first quarter, the Thunder ended the period on a 9-2 burst to snag a five-point lead and full control of the contest.

James kept the Lakers in it by halftime. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and had 16 points in the first 24 minutes to keep the game within single digits. The Lakers lost Jarred Vanderbilt due to a finger injury in the first half, too, after he smacked the backboard hard trying to block Chet Holmgren. Vanderbilt doubled over in pain instantly, and the Thunder bench grimaced significantly after getting a look at his hand. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Vanderbilt sustained a full dislocation of his right pinky finger.

While the Lakers briefly got the game to just four points early in the third, that was as close as they got. The Thunder rattled off seven straight points, capped by a huge Lu Dort 3-pointer and a quick Cason Wallace steal and layup, to take the game right back. then hit a corner 3-pointer of his own, and drew a foul on the way down, to convert a four-point play near the end of the period to give the Thunder a 12-point advantage entering the fourth.