LeBron James and Luka Doncic led Lakers obliterating Thunder brings out another one-liner from Shannon Sharpe

LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates destroyed the league leading Oklahoma City Thunder on the road.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic led Lakers obliterating Thunder brings out another one-liner from Shannon Sharpe

Shannon Sharpe enjoyed LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers win over Oklahoma City Thunder

When LeBron James and Luka Doncic struggled to get their Los Angeles Lakers to win against the Golden State Warriors, several questions popped up about their readiness against playoff contenders. Earlier today they met the league leading Oklahoma City Thunder in what would be the most important test of all.

That team romped away to the top of the league due to the combination of stellar play from superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his fellow starters as well as the deep bench. Their offense as well as team defense is superlative enough to trounce any team.

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But they lost their previous game against the Houston Rockets. If any team were to take away something from that game, it was the way the Rockets defended Gilgeous-Alexander. They deployed their best perimeter defenders on him and were instructed to avoid fouling him.

The Lakers have a similar set of players on their team, and they followed similar instructions. Clamping Gilgeous-Alexander down helped the away team draw up near 30-point deficits nearly three times to end the game 126-99. After watching this game, forever LeBron James and Lakers fan Shannon Sharpe wrote this on X.

Lou Dort, Airport, Seaport, Taylor Port. Lakers in (hand gesturing five).

Shannon Sharpe wrote

This was a continuation of the hilarious one-liners he brings out whenever hyping the Los Angeles Lakers. This win also helps to vindicate himself after colleagues Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst berated him for suggesting the Lakers could defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a playoff series.

Skip Bayless points out what helped Lakers stop SGA

The basketball world watched how the Los Angeles Lakers went about their defensive plan. The idea was to use their constant switching defense to force the Oklahoma City Thunder to avoid getting easy shots. But everyone tries to do that, however Skip Bayless pointed out where the Lakers excelled.

Derek Fisher just made the point on the Lakers’ postgame that the Lakers are one team the Thunder aren’t going to get their usual calls against. So true: the Lakers do the best job of team defense against SGA, who can’t live at the line against them.

Skip Bayless wrote

The longtime analyst pointed out that not many teams are built to defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander without fouling. Their team defense might not show up on the stat sheet, but the final score was proof of their effectiveness.

On top of that, James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves‘ offense has not become a problem. Against the Warriors Doncic shutting down did not help matters. But over the course of these past two months, it has been evident that when those three score, the Lakers are hard to stop.

Are Oklahoma City Thunder losing confidence?

Skip Bayless watched the game considering it was his home team playing against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Had his Oklahoma City Thunder won, it would have been the perfect ending for his weekend. But he saw something that has brought up some doubts in his mind.

Obviously, now that the Thunder came off winning 18 of 19 and 11 straight by losing at Houston, then getting blown off their home floor by the Lakers, I’m hoping OKC hasn’t lost some confidence and momentum as the playoffs loom.

Skip Bayless wrote

The Oklahoma native has seen his home team lose two straight games to teams right below them. With the playoffs right around the corner, it is the worst possible time for them to lose confidence. That will have a tremendous impact on their playoff hopes as opposing teams will get the confidence to defeat them.