Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Mon, May 11, the Los Angeles Lakers’ season came to an end as the Oklahoma City Thunder completed a four-game sweep over them at Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. The Lakers had struggled massively against OKC in the first three games as second-half scoring surges by the Thunder led them to win the first three games by big margins of 18 points(twice) and 23 points respectively. LeBron James was not looking spry and he needed to show himself as the all-time leading scorer in elimination games(33 points per game in those games, barely ahead of Luka Doncic and Michael Jordan) in order for the Purple & Gold to have any hope of staying alive in this series. This Monday night game could serve as the final game for LeBron in Laker colors(and maybe even his long NBA career). In the style of treating this game like a funeral or last-chance effort, the Lakers wore their all-black “City Connect” uniforms.

The first quarter showed a good start for the Purple & Gold, who closed out the quarter on an 18-7 scoring run after trailing by six points. But to start the second quarter, the Lakers couldn’t buy a basket as they failed to score in the first six minutes of the period. OKC took advantage of that scoring drought by going up by ten points, however the Purple & Gold in black ended up making some shots and drew to within four points of the Thunder at halftime. With a low-scoring first half, the second half was expected to be higher-scoring and OKC was seeking another high-scoring third quarter that would have them pull away. With a high second half point differential in the plus-thirties, the Thunder had held the Lakers down in a stranglehold for the second half.

But this instance would be different as in spite of high-scoring by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell, the Purple & Gold powered themselves from down by 12 points to retake the lead. Austin Reaves was the leading scorer in the first half, but in the third quarter, it was a combined team effort with a couple of threes made by LeBron and a couple of others. Reaves scored seven points in a row to give the Lakers their first lead since the early second quarter and they held a four-point lead at the end of the third quarter. 39 points in the period for the Purple & Gold after only 45 in the first half. The fourth quarter would be huge in determining whether the Lakers could finally win a game against OKC in this season.

The fourth quarter started out with back-and-forth action between both teams, but after Mark Daigenault called a timeout, the Thunder went on a mini 8-0 run to retake the lead. The Purple & Gold tried to keep up with OKC, which maintained a slight edge as the game pushed closer to crunch time. A clutch three-pointer made by Rui Hachimura put the Lakers down by two points but a couple of baskets by Chet Holmgren put the Thunder up six with two minutes left. However, Hachimura made another clutch three-pointer and was fouled by Holmgren for a four-point play. Rui made the free throw and the Lakers were down by two. After a couple of missed shots from both teams, the Purple & Gold tied the game up with a Marcus Smart and-1 layup. Smart made the free throw to give L.A the lead. After an OKC timeout, the lead changed again with a clutch dunk in the paint by Holmgren. JJ Redick called a timeout to draw up a play that could potentially help the Lakers win the game and on the inbounds pass, LeBron caught the ball and looked to drive to the basket. James was being guarded by Mitchell and he shot a layup that was defended by Isaiah Hartenstein. The ball went up and hit the backboard, but it bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Hartenstein. The ball was kept away and some valuable time came off the clock as the Lakers looked to foul one of the Thunder players to get them to the free throw line. Reaves eventually fouled SGA with a little over 12 seconds on the clock and Gilgeous-Alexander made both free throws. Redick called the Purple & Gold’s final timeout and a three-pointer needed to be attempted in order to tie the game. But the Thunder could potentially foul the Lakers(who were also in the bonus) before a shot was attempted and that could have complicated things in that case. On the inbounds pass, Reaves caught the ball and gathered to shoot a quick three-pointer, but the ball went off the rim twice and former Laker Alex Caruso grabbed the rebound. Daigenault called his team’s final timeout and on the next inbound, Mitchell caught the ball and was fouled by Hachimura. Mitchell made both free throws and the game was essentially over. One last inbounds pass by LeBron occurred and Smart missed a three and it was game over.

The Thunder had completed the sweep of the Lakers with a 115-110 victory and they continued their perfect start to the 2026 playoffs at 8-0. After being contained in each of the first three games, Gilgeous-Alexander came to life as he had a clutch performance of 35 points that included 15 lucky free throw attempts(he made 12 of them). Along with eight assists, SGA showed why he is the catalyst of this OKC team looking to be the first repeat champion in eight years. Ajay Mitchell continued his amazing series in stepping into a starting role for the injured Jalen Williams, as he scored 28 points in scoring more points in every game that he played in this series(15 in Game 1, 20 in Game 2, 24 in Game 3). Holmgren was clutch with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Jared McCain was the leading bench scorer with 13 points that included a trio of three-pointers. In spite of only making 11 threes, the Thunder used their grit and determination to eliminate the Lakers and return to the Western Conference Finals, where they will await the winner of a currently tied series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs.

In a losing effort, the Lakers had four guys in double-figures. Reaves was the leading scorer with 27 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. Hachimura scored 25 points and made four three-pointers, with him doing his best to replace Luka Doncic’s three-point offensive stats in these playoffs. In his potential final game as a Laker, LeBron scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to pass Wilt Chamberlain for the third-most playoff double-doubles in NBA history. Only Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan have more of those than King James, who scored less than his elimination game average and his final basket in this season was a dunk in the paint with over four minutes left in regulation. The leading scorer off the bench was Jaxson Hayes, who did much better than DeAndre Ayton in having 18 points and five rebounds.

Without Luka Doncic, this Purple & Gold squad could only go so far. After defeating the Houston Rockets in a First Round series that was extended by a couple of games, they only had a few days to prepare for a well-rested OKC team. The Thunder looked a little rusty out of the gates, but they surged ahead with massive second half scoring totals over the Lakers. The grade-two hamstring strain suffered by Doncic on Thur, Apr 2 at the Paycom Center against the Thunder in a blowout loss was basically a watershed moment in this season. It soiled what was an otherwise amazing season for Luka, who could still qualify as a First-Team All-NBA player this season. The big three of James, Doncic and Reaves didn’t play that many games together in this season, with injuries impacting their playing time and draining important offensive production from the team. This trio is unlikely to return next season with LeBron being an unrestricted free agent and Reaves holding a player-option in deciding whether he should become a free agent. Other unrestricted free agents for the Purple & Gold include Hachimura, Hayes and Luke Kennard, while those with a player-option other than Reaves are Ayton and Smart. Rob Pelinka will have a hard offseason ahead as there is massively uncertainty about whether LeBron will return to play in L.A or even at all after completing his record-setting 23rd season in the NBA.

This was a rough ending to an otherwise entertaining season for the Lakers, who have not made it to the NBA Finals since the bubble edition in 2020 when they defeated the Miami Heat in six games. The last time an NBA Finals game was played in the House That Mamba Built was on June 17, 2010, when Kobe Bryant and a team of veterans and young stars defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 to clinch banner number 16 in Lakers history. But those days seem like a long time ago as LeBron James might have just joined a list of all-time Lakers greats to have their time in Tinseltown end with a defeat in the playoffs. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar’s career ended at age 41(the current age of LeBron) in a sweep in the 1989 Finals to the hands of the Detroit Pistons. Shaquille O’Neal’s time in L.A ended after a disappointing Finals defeat to the Pistons in 2004. Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain suffered the same fate of Finals defeat to the New York Knicks in 1973.

So, LeBron was swept for the fourth time in his NBA career and will now have to decide for himself what he wants to do next. The entire Lakers’ offseason plan depends on what the King’s next decision ends up being. Whatever happens, if this is the end of LeBron’s eight-year run in Purple & Gold threads, he certainly will be remembered for having one of the more impressive stints as a Laker in franchise history. Not in terms of team success, but in terms of him setting so many records that might never be broken. That is a legacy worth celebrating and revering, no matter how much smoke he gets for falling short of being the Greatest of All Time. For now, the Lakers are defeated and it’s back to square one once again.