It will be the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, barring the most shocking comeback in the history of the NBA.
With a 131-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder took a 3-0 lead on Saturday and remain undefeated through seven postseason games. They are 27-1 since the start of February in games Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played.
They go for the sweep Monday in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video). No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
AJAY MITCHELL IS HOOPING.
A new postseason career-high in points with 24!
Watch OKC/LAL Game 3 on ABC ???? https://t.co/Z8kKpIS1iV pic.twitter.com/hAA44LoFms — NBA (@NBA) May 10, 2026
The Lakers at least put up a fight for the first half in front of their home crowd, going back-and-forth and entering halftime with a two-point lead, 59-57. They lost control when OKC opened the third quarter with a 21-6 run, got the deficit back down to five points late in the third, and then the Thunder hit the gear only the Thunder are capable of hitting.
LA simply looked gassed by the end, as if it had been playing the best team in the NBA without its most important player for three straight games. The Lakers waved the white flag by emptying their bench with 3:38 remaining in the game.
The Thunder outscored them 74-49 in the second half.
Once again, the Lakers succeeded in preventing an otherworldly game from Gilgeous-Alexander (23 points on 7-of-20 shooting), but OKC’s deep supporting cast again made that a non-issue. Six other players scored in double figures, and the team collectively shot 56.4% from the field and 44.7% from deep, with nine total turnovers.
LeBron wasn't happy with this no-call ????
Chet with the easy slam on the other end ‼️ pic.twitter.com/HVxjryqWXN — NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 10, 2026
There’s no telling how this series would have gone down had Luka Dončić been healthy (or Thunder star Jalen Williams for that matter), but the actual result has been as expected. The Lakers have pushed the Thunder at times, but never enough across an entire game. Every loss has been by double-digits.
As Lakers head coach JJ Redick put it with reporters after the game:
“They’ve kicked our ass three straight games. They’re an incredible basketball team.”
Counting the regular season, the Lakers are now 0-7 against the Thunder this season with an average scoring margin of 25.4 points. The closest loss has been by nine points. The only game in which the Lakers were actually healthy at the start of the game was the April 2 date when Dončić and Austin Reaves both got hurt.
Maybe there’s a turnaround still to come. The way the Lakers looked in the fourth quarter didn’t inspire confidence.