Josh Hart racked up another double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Lakers finally get a win over the Thunder, beating them 108-104 and closing their five game road trip with a 3-2 record. Brook Lopez was the leading scorer with 20 points and he added 5 rebounds and 5 assists to his stat line. Julius Randle racked up 19 points with 6 rebounds, Brandon Ingram added 16 points to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and KCP broke out of a funk with 13 points to go with 5 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson once again lead the bench in scoring with 18 points to go with 2 steals.
Final Score: @ Oklahoma City 108-104 [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20180204/LALOKC#/recap
Next Game: vs. Phoenix (02/06)
Highlights: *Courtesy of MLG Highlights*
Compared to the last two games against this Thunder team, the Lakers played super competitive in this 3rd meeting from start to finish. Set this win next to the late January one point win against the Celtics as one of those hallmark victories for this season. This team is showing that the future is bright in Laker land. First off the negative here was the finish. The Lakers have a 10 point lead with about 1:08 in the 4th quarter. Ingram's block on Melo and his pass to Randle for the breakaway dunk should've been deal sealer there.But a couple of turnovers almost gave the Thunder an improbable victory. Not to take away from Clarkson's solid game and big 3-pointers in the 2nd half, but those three turnovers down the stretch of the 4th quarter were bad. All season long, the Lakers had a knack on road game of making us think that they're going to win comfortably, then they just have to make things interesting whether it's missed free throws or critical turnovers. They must continue to improve playing with a big lead, especially on the road. But nonetheless, great way to close out the road trip. The mentality of being aggressive to the basket was there. They were active in running the floor. Ingram and Randle did their thing in the paint. It was a super mismatch between Randle and Melo in the Power Forward position and Randle just muscled his way to the basket. Josh Hart one of these games is gonna trigger Magic and Pelinka to unload Clarkson or KCP before the deadline. Second straight game with a double-double since being inserted into the starting lineup. He just shoots the 3-pointers with confidence, goes aggressive to the basket, crashes the boards, and plays good defense. Hart has a lot of potential to be another two-way player for the Lakers outside of Ingram. He just needs to improve the free throw shooting. Lopez and KCP stepped up as veterans. Lopez in particular was active and got his 3-point shot to work. He is stepping up as this young Lakers' security blanket. This loss is also a big blow to the Thunder. There's a lot of issues going on with the team during their 4-game skid. I guess anything to diminish Paul George's chances of re-signing with the Thunder is good news for the Lakers and this win might've made his impending free agency decision a lot more challenging.
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