The Lakers' Form Slips

At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder led the Lakers by 12 points, 36–24.

As the second quarter began, the Thunder made an early substitution, bringing Chen Xi back onto the court just four minutes into the quarter.

As for the Lakers, although Noel's presence had left them short-handed inside during that stretch, James had also returned to the floor early. At least they hadn't fallen too far behind at the start of the quarter.

What also let Vogel breathe a sigh of relief was that Josh Hart, coming off the bench, had once again played the role of the team's surprise weapon tonight.

He was the first Lakers player to make a three-pointer in the game.

In the first four minutes of the second quarter, Hart had gone two-for-three from beyond the arc, greatly easing the Lakers' spacing issues.

At the same time, he had taken some of the burden off James.

So when the second quarter ended, the score stood at 60–51. Thanks to Griffin's three-pointer from the perimeter late in the quarter, the Lakers had managed to cut the deficit back to single digits.

After that, halftime passed quickly.

The second half got underway.

Once both teams returned to the court, the Thunder launched the first attack of the half.

Westbrook dribbled across midcourt, found Little Jordan's screen at the top of the key, then quickly drove into the paint.

Drawing a double-team inside, he flicked the ball up with a soft toss.

On the other side, Jeff Green cut in from the corner, took off, and finished the alley-oop with a two-handed dunk.

The Lakers had left the corner open on the first possession of the half. Their defense had broken down again.

This time, though, the problem clearly wasn't the defensive scheme. It