On the brink of elimination, the Lakers went down swinging.<\/p>\n
LA overcame its second-half woes and took OKC all the way to the final minute before losing late, 115-110, as the Thunder completed the sweep.<\/p>\n
In the most hotly-contested game of the series, the two teams battled throughout the fourth quarter. The Lakers had the lead late on a Marcus Smart and-one layup, but the Thunder responded with the next five points to win the game.<\/p>\n
Deandre Ayton started things offensively for LA with a tip-in layup off a missed shot by LeBron James. Lu Dort and Ajay Mitchell responded with a combined five points immediately after.<\/p>\n
Rui Hachimura started cooking for Los Angeles with four points.<\/p>\n
At the 6:42 mark, the Lakers were down by six.<\/p>\n
The Lakers surged with nine straight points to jump into the lead. Austin Reaves was now the leading scorer for LA with five points. Smart was the only starter who had yet to score.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles ended the first well with Reaves and LeBron combining for five points, helping give the team a five-point lead.<\/p>\n
Alex Caruso opened the second period with back-to-back evil 3-pointers. Mitchell then converted on a layup, which forced the Lakers to call an early timeout as they saw their lead vanish. Out of the break, Caruso finally missed a triple. Unfortunately, LA was also missing shots.<\/p>\n
The Thunder were up by five with 9:50 left.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City\u2019s scoring run extended to 17-0 as Los Angeles tried to score, but couldn\u2019t figure out any consistency with their offense. LeBron stopped some of the bleeding with two free throws.<\/p>\n
Jaxson Hayes ended the field goal drought by converting on a layup. The Lakers responded well, making it a four-point game at halftime, despite their shooting struggles.<\/p>\n
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander converted on a midrange jumper to open the third period. Hachimura had the hot hand early for LA with seven points in the quarter. Mitchell had eight in the quarter already for the Thunder.<\/p>\n
Cason Wallace drilled a triple that forced Los Angeles to call a timeout after yet another OKC run had the Lakers down 12.<\/p>\n
Reaves now had six of LA\u2019s 12 overall turnovers. Out of the break, LeBron converted on one of two free throws. Hachimura also knocked down a big-time 3-pointer.<\/p>\n
SGA was the only OKC player scoring; he was up to 23 for the night. LeBron drained two massive 3-pointers that helped keep Los Angeles within striking distance.<\/p>\n
The purple and gold were down by five with 4:04 left in the quarter.<\/p>\n
LA went on a massive 14-5 run that turned the game in their favor. They added to that run to take the lead by one with 3:08 left.<\/p>\n
Both teams then took turns leading. Hayes\u2019 four points at the end of the third helped give Los Angeles a lead of four going into the fourth.<\/p>\n
This was the first time in the series that they beat OKC in the third.<\/p>\n
LeBron split a pair of free throws to open the scoring in the final frame. Jared McCain converted on a layup on the other end for Oklahoma City. Despite two from Mitchell, LeBron scored four points, helping keep LA in the lead by five.<\/p>\n
Out of a break, McC ain drained a triple.<\/p>\n
Reaves launched a ridiculous 3-pointer over Caruso that kept Los Angeles up by five. SGA nailed two free throws that cut into the deficit for the Thunder. McCain knocked down yet another three that tied the game with 6:34 left.<\/p>\n
OKC went up by three after Mitchell completed a three-point play. Hachimura responded with his signature midrange shot on the other end. A back-and-forth battle was taking place over the final five minutes.<\/p>\n
The teams took turns leading by one until a triple from SGA put the Thunder up four with 3:47 left. At the 2:13 mark, Oklahoma City was up by six. With 1:41 left, Hachimura completed a wild four-point play to make it a two-point game.<\/p>\n
Smart was then fouled and completed a three-point play that put the Lakers up by one with 40 seconds left, capping off a 7-0 run. Chet Holmgren dunked on the next possession and put Oklahoma City up one with 32.8 seconds left.<\/p>\n
LeBron missed a floater with roughly 20 seconds left and, on the other end, SGA was fouled and converted on both free throws, giving the Thunder a three-point lead with 12.2 seconds left.<\/p>\n
Reaves had a nice look at a 3-pointer and unfortunately missed. With 7.6 seconds left, Mitchell was fouled and converted on both free throws, sealing the win for OKC.<\/p>\n
LeBron finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Reaves added 27 points with seven rebounds and six assists. Hayes had 18 points off the bench.<\/p>\n
Hachimura scored 25 points on 9-15 shooting. Ayton logged six points. Kennard pitched in with five points.<\/p>\n
You can follow Karin on Twitter at <\/strong>@KarinAbcarians<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n