The Oklahoma City Thunder were guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs no matter what happened against the Los Angeles Lakers in the final week of the NBA season.
In the first of two back-to-back games against Los Angeles, OKC fell victim to a record-setting barrage of three-pointers during a runaway 126-99 win for the Lakers.
Los Angeles tied a franchise record with 15 threes in the first half alone, as LeBron James finished with 19 points and Luka Doncic led all scorers with 30 points.
Even Lakers’ rookie Bronny James got in on the action, sinking a three late in the fourth quarter that set off a load of reactions directed at the disappointing Thunder.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) passes around Oklahoma City Thunder forward Dillon Jones (3) during the second half at Paycom Center.
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
The 20-year-old James made his 24th NBA appearance for the Lakers, playing the final 2:16 of the fourth quarter and finishing with three points and one rebound.
Fans have noticed a pattern in James’ sparse minutes this season. Los Angeles is 15-9 in games where James sees the floor. However, if you tighten it to games where James played less than five minutes, the record in those games is 13-2.
In other words, Bronny getting a couple minutes at the end of the game against a team means that team likely lost the game.
“Bronny splash job means your team got whacked,” said a fan on X.
“A slap in the face to OKC,” said another reply.
“Bronny is getting minutes against the 1st seed,” said one fan. “Are the okc frauds?”
“Okc are basically frauds,” replied another user.
Regardless of fan sentiments and jokes, the Bronny James litmus test will certainly not change the Thunder’s status as front-runner in the West.
The blowout win was much more important for the Lakers, who are trying to hold onto third place in the West standings with just four more games to play this season. The five teams below them entered Sunday all within 1.5 games of the Lakers.
Whichever two teams finish at the bottom of that six-team logjam will drop into the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Lakers and Thunder play again on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, but the Thunder will hope that James does not get the chance to see the floor the next time around.
