THUNDER WIRE - The Oklahoma City Thunder had an easy 123-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. After a slow start, they completely opened it up in the final three-fourths of the game. They led by as many as 41 points.

Crossing over Kobe Bufkin, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had an open lane to the basket. He went up for the rare twohanded jam. Just like it was the case five days ago, OKC made light work of a beat-up Los Angeles squad that has seen its ambitions shattered.

“When there’s a team out there that you’re not used to seeing, you gotta calibrate a little bit just how they’re gonna play, how they’re gonna attack and that took us a minute,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Obviously, in the game, they played a lot of zone early. That switched to man-toman and they were playing through Timme quite a bit early. And so, it took us a minute.”

From the opening possession, the talent discrepancy was eye-opening. Chet Holmgren pulled out a jail dribble as he went into scorer mode with Los Angeles’ faulty frontcourt. Isaiah Joe joined in on the fun. He swished in a deep 3-pointer on the tail-end of the Lakers’ midcourt logo.

The Thunder had a 34-27 lead after the first quarter. Trying to keep this competitive for as long as they can, the Lakers found a rhythm to start the second frame. Luke Kennard went to the cup for a difficult finish. That tied things up at 42 points apiece with over seven minutes left in the first half.

So, the Thunder fell into sleepwalking mode. Surely that means we’re about to see an annoying game where the Lakers’ hospital squad punches above their weight and keeps it tight? Not really. After a timeout, OKC shook off any signs of sleepiness.

More specifically, Gilgeous-Alexander provided a steady hand. The Thunder went on a 23-5 run to end the first half. They put up 31 points in the second frame. And the Lakers couldn’t create offense without any real scorers. OKC entered halftime with a commanding 65-47 lead over Los Angeles.

Things only escalated from there. The Thunder completely slammed the door shut. They picked up right where they left off with a game-ending 25-7 run. Gilgeous-Alexander was surgical. Holmgren dominated on the boards. And guys like Joe and Jared McCain couldn’t miss from the outside.

As the scoreboard showed some hilarious scores, Gilgeous-Alexander added the final touches to this one. On one possession, he knocked down a catchand- shoot outside look. The Thunder’s offense was in a flow. The ball had great energy. The next possession, he crossed up Bufkin for a rare electric jam.

The Thunder had 28 points in the third quarter. They had a 93-62 lead with a dozen minutes to go. On the other end, the Lakers only mustered 15 points. Pitiful numbers for an NBA team — even with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves out.

For another game, the fourth quarter turned inconsequential. The TV ratings likely plummeted as OKC households turned off the broadcast to catch some sleep before waking up early for school or work. All 15 Thunder players logged serious minutes. They scored 30 points in the final frame.

The Thunder shot 51% from the field and went 21-of-41 (51.2%) from 3. They shot 12-of-14 on free throws. They had 29 assists on 45 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 25 points and eight assists. Holmgren had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Joe tallied 18 points and two rebounds. McCain finished with 15 points and two rebounds. Aaron Wiggins scored 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Lakers shot 44% from the field and went 9-of-26 (34.6%) from 3. They shot 14-of-31 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 32 baskets. Five Lakers players scored double-digit points.

Rui Hachimura had 15 points and five rebounds. Kennard finished with 10 points and nine assists. Drew Timme had 11 points and three rebounds. Adou Thiero tallied 10 points and four rebounds. Nick Smith dropped 11 points in garbage time.

Business as usual for the Thunder. Once the Lakers ruled out their three best players, this game was decided before the players even stepped foot in the building. It took a moment for OKC to take full control, but once it did, it completely tsunami’d Los Angeles on the scoreboard as the latter had zero NBA scorers suited up.

Another game where Gilgeous-Alexander and the other Thunder starters enjoyed a short shift. Now that they’re fully healthy — aside from Jalen Williams’ healthy scratch — they’re back to rolling and blowing teams out left and right. Just playing their best basketball at the right time. Now, they’re a win away from clinching the NBA’s best record and the first seed.

“This is a team that truly enjoys being around one another. The minute they get together on the bus, it seems their energy goes up. When they’re together at practice or shootaround, their energy goes up. Even in the game, they gain energy by being around each other,” Daigneault said. “They’ve kinda always been like that. That’s been a quality that’s existed independent of context. We really haven’t tried to look at this season as a title defense. We’ve tried to look at it as a new season that started from scratch. Last year was great. Nobody is going to take that away from us. But it’s also over. We’ve tried to look at this season as a new blank canvas we’ve tried to paint on.”

Next up for the Thunder Is another road game In Denver on the 10th against the Nuggets.

The game Is set to start at 8 p.m.

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