Thunder vs. Lakers halftime stats: Darius Bazley has double-double at break
Well, so far this is a much better showing for the Oklahoma City Thunder than their first matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers last month.
On Monday, the Thunder took a 60-56 lead into the half against Los Angeles.
Darius Bazley is leading the way for Oklahoma City. He has already recorded a double-double, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes of play. He has two offensive boards, contributing to the Thunder’ eight total, which has helped them gain an advantage at halftime.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 13 points, nine of which came in the first quarter.
LeBron James leads the Lakers with 14 points. He also has six rebounds and six assists in 19 minutes of play.
Defining moment
The defining moment was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dunk in the first quarter that gave Oklahoma an 11-point lead, a game high through the fist 24 minutes of play. The third-year guard got around a double-team and drove to the rim. There was no help defense against Gilgeous-Alexander, who rose up and finished with a dunk. That put the Thunder's lead back up to double-digits against Los Angeles, who is without star big Anthony Davis on Monday. Gilgeous-Alexander had a plus-11 in the half, showing just how impactful he was -- Oklahoma City outscored the Lakers by 11 with him on the floor but were outscored by seven with him off. https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1358983679318622208
Telling stat
The Thunder absolutely dominated the paint, scoring 40 points down low without Davis in the game. They have been decent overall in the paint this season, with a 46 points per game average that ranks in the middle of the Western Conference, but this first half performance blows that out of the water. Many of those came from offensive rebounds. With eight, the Thunder were able to do well on the glass and get second-chance points to get ahead of the Lakers in the first half.
Thunder highlight
Call him K-Rich. Kenny Hustle. A pitbull mentality, or a dog in general. Kenrich Williams is known around the Thunder for his attitude and hustle, and he showed this during the game against the Lakers. What really pops out about his stat sheet: his offensive rebounds. The Thunder crashed the glass hard, accumulating eight offensive boards in the first half, and Williams picked up almost half of them. He had three offensive rebounds. Two of his boards resulted in not just put-backs, but put-backs that sent him to the free throw line. He didn't convert either, but got to the charity stripe nevertheless and added fouls to the Lakers' totals. https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1358979598508298243
