OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-90 in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference semifinal series on May 4, 2026, at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The result held the Lakers to their lowest playoff point total since 2021.

Chet Holmgren led the Thunder with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell each added 18 points.

LeBron James paced the Lakers with 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting. Rui Hachimura scored 18, Marcus Smart added 12, and Deandre Ayton finished with 10.

The Game 1 outcome extended Oklahoma City's advantage over Los Angeles, following a 4-0 regular-season sweep by an average margin of 29.3 points. The 41-year-old James had led the Lakers to a 4-2 first-round win over the Houston Rockets to advance to the second round.

Gilgeous-Alexander described the Thunder's performance after the game. "We were a little choppy, a little rusty, but offensively we just stuck with it," he said.

He also addressed the team's defensive approach. "We just try to make people play outside their comfort zone, as simple as that. Whatever guys like to do, we like to take away from them," Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick pointed to errors as a factor. "The mistakes hurt us. You're playing the world champs, your margin for error in terms of mistakes is not that high … just too many tonight. We've got to clean that up," he said.

Redick said the team's effort was not the issue. "The guys played hard. We just got to do a better job with execution. It comes down to attention to detail," he said.