Short-handed Lakers blown out again by Thunder, on verge of falling to 5th place in West

The Los Angeles Lakers’ indignity was predictable on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean it counts any less in the standings.

The Lakers faced the NBA’s top team, the Oklahoma City Thunder while missing Luka Dončić (out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring strain), LeBron James (out Tuesday with a foot injury), Austin Reaves (out for the rest of the regular season with an oblique strain), Marcus Smart (out since March 21 with an ankle injury) and Jaxson Hayes (out Tuesday with foot soreness).

That’s four starters and a rotation big man, against a team that beat them by 43 points last week. This time, the Thunder beat them 123-87, handing L.A. its third straight loss after a stretch in which it won 13 of 14 games.

On the bright side, Bronny James had a nice dunk on his way to four points on 2-of-9 shooting.

With their top players out, Rui Hachimura led the team in scoring with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. DeAndre Ayton, the Lakers’ lone remaining starter from their regular unit in the previous few months, posted only three points on 1-of-4 shooting and three rebounds in 23 minutes.

When asked why the team hasn’t been able to feature Ayton more lately, head coach JJ Redick provided a blunt assessment:

“He’s had trouble catching the ball.”

The Lakers were third in the Western Conference standings when they entered last week’s game against the Thunder and are now sitting in fourth. They are also in danger of falling to fifth behind the Houston Rockets and losing home-court advantage in the first round.

Los Angeles is in no danger of slipping to sixth, but its fall from third still means it is staring down a matchup with the Thunder in the event of a victorious first round, which is by no means a given. It’s unclear when Dončić and Reaves, their two leading scorers, will be able to return during the postseason.

That would be why the NBA’s most popular team is now a +30000 underdog (i.e. 300-to-1) to win the NBA Finals at BetMGM right now.