Three Takeaways From the Oklahoma City Thunder's Rout of the Los Angeles Lakers

It was an all-around strong showing from the Oklahoma City Thunder at home against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night, as it secured a dominant victory to provide some positive momentum moving forward.

The Los Angeles Lakers coupled the worst loss of LeBron James' career at Philadelphia with a big-time blowout victory over Detroit, and in order for them to reap the benefits of the latter, they'd need to capitalize on the road in Oklahoma City. 

Standing in their way, however, was an extremely strong Thunder squad looking to bounce back itself from a close loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And by the end of the 48-minute contest, the Lakers had met their match. 

Oklahoma City started hot and stayed hot throughout the game, fueled by scoring up and down the roster in order to fend off the visiting Los Angeles squad, and ultimately secured a 133-110 victory to leave the Lakers with plenty of questions and itself with positive momentum. 

Nov 30, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) defends Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter at Paycom Center / © Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Here are three takeaways from the Thunder's rout of the Lakers:

Starting Production Starts Production

Any game in the NBA can be decided right from the jump, and luckily for the Thunder, it has one of the taller guys in the NBA to get his hands on the ball. 

The Lakers gained possession despite Chet Holmgren's best efforts, but Oklahoma City made sure that it was one of the few wins Los Angeles would get Thursday night. Out of the gate, Los Angeles put together a solid run to build a small cushion, and even took a seven-point lead to the second quarter. But from there, Jalen Williams took over to bring his team within two points. 

And once he hit another shot to take back the lead, the momentum flipped. 

The Thunder took a 12-point lead to halftime and never looked back, which was largely due to its starting unit's general success. All five starters for Oklahoma City — Holmgren, Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey — finished with double-digit scoring, at least five field goals and rebounds and a combined six turnovers. 

It was a completely dominant performance that allowed the Thunder to have its way, especially down the stretch. But while the starters performed well to provide the base for a big-time victory, it wasn't just those five players. 

In fact, one non-starter in particular flexed his skillset, too.

Isaiah Joe's Crucial Success

The Thunder already had plenty of young offensive weapons to rely on this season.

Between adding Holmgren in his "rookie" season, Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey and even this year's true rookie, Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City knew that it would likely be a bottom heavy squad. One star — Gilgeous-Alexander — and several other core pieces followed by rotational bench players. 

Joe fell in the latter category. He was a lights-out shooter, but wasn't quite a star in the way the Thunder would classify it. His spot on this season's roster was a given, however, and he's only improved in just his second season in Oklahoma City.

The shooting guard has tallied double-digit points in six of his last seven outings, shooting hot from deep once again in the process — around 46 percent. 

Joe was a big piece for the Thunder last night against the Lakers, tallying 10 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. On a night when the starters seemed to dominant the game, he performed well. He's gelling with Oklahoma City and continuing to provide an offensive spark plug, which is one of the reasons the Thunder has been able to come out of a majority of its games victorious. 

And that is exactly what he's going to continue to do.

Oklahoma City Can Outplay Just About Everybody

It's true. 

So far this season, the Thunder has won double the amount of games it's lost, and when those losses do occur, they're close. That is, all except the Nuggets game. 

With the second youngest roster in the NBA, it wasn't expected for Oklahoma City to be as high as it is. It's currently sitting at the No. 3 seed, but has peaked at the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. 

But while it might have been the expected outcome prior to the season, it's certainly not a surprise anymore. Between players like Joe showing out and the starting unit performing to the best of its ability, of course the Thunder will be competitive. 

If it wasn't apparent before, it certainly is now. Oklahoma City is in a strong position to compete for a title in the West — especially if it can snag wins against other contenders like the Lakers and Phoenix Suns. 

It's able to outplay just about everybody. It just needs to keep proving that.

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