{"id":784182,"date":"2026-05-09T11:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/784182\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:56:16","slug":"lakers-role-players-need-to-step-up-especially-with-series-moving-to-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/784182\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers role players need to step up, especially with series moving to LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lakers\u2019 second-round series against the Thunder<\/a> is shifting away from Paycom Center, which is widely considered one of the loudest arenas in the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That could be good news for the team\u2019s role players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Against the Thunder\u2019s deep roster<\/a>, the Lakers need everyone to make a positive contribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One major advantage the Thunder have had this series?<\/p>\n

That could be good news for the team\u2019s role players.\u00a0 NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bench points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Game 1, the Thunder\u2019s reserves outscored the Lakers\u2019 bench, 34-15. In Game 2, that advantage ballooned\u00a0to 48-24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder, quite simply, have more players who are playing well than the Lakers, which makes all the difference in the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers have actually done a good job limiting reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led all postseason scorers in the first round of the playoffs with 33.7 points a game. This series he\u2019s averaging just 20 points.<\/p>\n

The Thunder, quite simply, have more players who are playing well than the Lakers, which makes all the difference in the playoffs.\u00a0 NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But unfortunately for the Lakers, trying to limit the Thunder has been like playing Whac-A-Mole at an arcade. In Game 1, Chet Holmgren led the team with 24 points and 12 rebounds. In Game 2, Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell each had 20 or more points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for the Lakers, nearly everyone not named LeBron James has struggled offensively at various points this series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Austin Reaves went from scoring eight points in Game 1 to finishing with a game-high 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Game 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Deandre Ayton had just three points on 1-for-7 shooting in Game 2. Luke Kennard had a disappearing act in Game 1, shooting 1-for-4 from the field. Jake LaRavia has struggled to make an impact. Marcus Smart has been quiet on the offensive end after having a few scoring explosions in the first round. Jaxson Hayes hasn\u2019t made much of an impact. <\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura has been consistent, finishing with 18 points in Game 1 and 16 points in Game 2. But other than him, the team\u2019s role players have left a lot to be desired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Lakers\u2019 role players could make themselves a threat, that would greatly help spread the court for James and Reaves, who are trying to carry the Lakers while Luka Doncic remains sidelined with a strained hamstring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers have actually done a good job limiting reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led all postseason scorers in the first round of the playoffs with 33.7 points a game. This series he\u2019s averaging just 20 points. AP<\/p>\n

The Thunder have had the top-rated defense in the league the last two years. The Lakers need bigger contributions from their role players both in the starting lineup and on the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They need to make themselves a threat. They can\u2019t allow the defense to collapse on James and harass\u00a0Reaves. Everyone on the court needs to make the Thunder respect them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though the Lakers are down 2-0 in their second-round playoff series, losing both games by 18 points, the final score made those games seem more lopsided than they appeared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Game 1, the Lakers jumped to a 7-0 start and trailed by only eight points at halftime, 61-53. In Game 2,\u00a0they were neck-to -neck with the Thunder for much of the game until OKC pulled away midway through the fourth quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now the Lakers are going home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019re going to be on their turf, in front of their crowd, shooting on the baskets they\u2019ve developed a feel for over 41 regular season games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Lakers role players could step up, the Lakers could claw their way back into this series.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lakers\u2019 second-round series against the Thunder is shifting away from Paycom Center, which is widely considered one…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":784183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,3141,5337,1260,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-784182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116544496607889800","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}