Thursday night’s matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers was a stern test as the Lakers wrapped up their road trip.

With Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt all sitting out this game, the Lakers were severely depleted in personnel. The fact that LeBron James and Anthony Davis could play in consecutive games didn’t affect the Thunder’s 133-110 triumph because they were the more inexperienced squad.

After a 2-2 road trip, Los Angeles will return home with an 11-9 record.

The Lakers went off to a fast start in this game despite being shorthanded in the second game of a back-to-back. James and Taurean Prince scored early for the Lakers, while Davis took two early fouls for the Thunder’s rookie center Chet Holmgren for rushing the hoop. The lead is now in double digits, at 27-16, thanks to contributions from deep by Max Christie and D’Angelo Russell.

The Lakers’ lead was reduced to 37-30 entering the second quarter due to Thunder standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s departure at the end of the first quarter.

Davis was benched for the second quarter, but Oklahoma City’s surge did not stop. They pulled even and went ahead 48-46, prompting Darvin Ham to call a timeout.

After the timeout, LeBron immediately attacked the basket to start the offensive. However, the Lakers were sloppy with the ball and couldn’t control their fouling, which led to the Thunder establishing a double-digit lead of their own.

As the second game of a back-to-back wore on the Lakers, they were unable to string together a strong performance to conclude the half, and the Thunder took a 72-60 lead into halftime.

As the third quarter started for the Lakers, Davis kept up his aggressive play; the only issue was that nobody else appeared to be able to keep up with him.

At the same time, no Lakers player was able to stop Gilgeous-Alexander from relentlessly attacking the paint. Holmgren finally got going in the second half after a lackluster first half, and he even hit a triple to give the Thunder a 20-point lead (108-88) heading into the fourth.

An early fourth-quarter surge was necessary for the Lakers to mount a comeback. While the Lakers are known for their failed comeback attempts, the Thunder were able to hold on to their lead and come out on top in this game.