Shortly before the end of the regular season in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder got out of step.
The team around the German Center Isaiah Hartenstein lost 99: 126 against the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the second defeat in a row for the continued sovereign league leader, who had to struggle one week before the end of the regular season, especially with the type of bankruptcy.
While Oklahoma City did little in the attack, the guests led by their superstar Luka Doncic burned fireworks. The Slovenian met five of his eleven trials and scored 30 points, LeBron James contributed 19 points. In total, the Lakers converted 22 of their 40 litters from a distance.
Hartenstein’s perfect quota helps little
On the other hand, Hartenstein hadn’t had much to accuse himself of. The 26-year-old met all four litters and came to eight points, six rebounds and a steal in just under 25 minutes. As a team, however, the league leader did little. NBA top scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points and thus remained well below his average of almost 33 points per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander complains about weak defensive
“SGA” against Los Angeles was not awarded a single free throw for the first time since December 2021. “I don’t even know what’s going on. Somehow I just haven’t been fouled,” said Gilgeous-Alexander a bit at a loss after the match. “But it wasn’t that. If we want to win, we have to defend better.”
The way to the NBA playoffs
In the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference The six best teams each reach the playoffs. The four teams behind each conference in the play-ins each play out two other participants. These 16 teams play the NBA title in the playoffs in a tournament tree divided into west and east.
With the 48th win of the season, the Lakers strengthened their third place in the Western Conference, with which they had home advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Oklahoma City has long been the first to be found in the west. Both teams still have to complete four games.