Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Thunder OUTLAST Lakers 136-120

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

LeBron James scored 28 points, Austin Reaves added 24, and Luka Doncic chipped in with 23 before being ejected in the 4th quarter as the Lakers lost to the Thunder 136-120. Most Valuable Player candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to victory with a game-high 42 points.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Dorian Finney-Smith, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!Robinhood GoldWith Robinhood Gold you now enjoy the VIP treatment, receiving 3% IRA match on retirement contributions. The privileges of the privileged are no longer exclusive. With Robinhood Gold your annual IRA contributions are boosted by 3%, plus you also get 4% APY on your account in non-retirement accounts. That’s over 8 times the national savings average. The perks of the high net worth are now available for any net worth.The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold. To receive your 3% boost on annual IRA contributions, sign up at robinhood.com/goldInvesting involves risk. Rate subject to change. 3% match requires Robinhood Gold. At $5 a month for one year from first match, must keep funds in IRA for 5 years. Go to robinhood.com/boost. Over 8x the average national average savings account interest rate claim is based on data from the FDIC as of November 18, 2024. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC). Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold, LLC. BETTER HELPIf you're not sure what they look like, therapy can help you identify them, actively practice them, and even embody that green flag energy yourself. Whether you're dating, married, building a friendship, or just working on yourself, therapy can help you form relationships that love you back.- Therapy helps you develop healthy boundaries and improves your communication skills.- It empowers you to set clear expectations and express your needs in relationships.- Therapy provides tools for managing conflict in ways that strengthen your connections rather than break them down.BetterHelp makes it easy by offering online therapy, with over 30,000 licensed therapists to choose from. And if you need to switch therapists, you can do so at no extra cost.Discover your relationship “green flags” with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/lockedonnba today to get 10% off your first month. That’s BetterHelp—H-E-L-P—dot com slash lockedonnba. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers Postcast, part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles, on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, good evening, everyone. Again, it's the Lakers Postcast show. I'm Dave Pallet. I appreciate you joining me tonight. It's a tough loss for the Lakers that they fall to the Thunder 136-120. The Lakers played the stars at OKC. They had the game in hand and under control, but they let it slip away.

And is Luca a problem? Is Lucas Temper a problem? It's something that we have to talk about right here. It's what everyone's going to be talking about, heading into the next game against the Dallas Mavericks. This is what you'll be talking about. The Lakers had a chance to win this game, and the Lakers were up 108, 107, with 740 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Again, I'll be taking your comments throughout the show. Kind of curious to know what you thought about this Laker game. But here we are. We're in a situation where the Lakers had a chance to, win and they took a gamble and again i apologize for my voice again if you've been with me through these postcast been battling it for about two weeks now thought it would be better so if you can put up with my voice and put up with my frustration about this laker loss uh thanks for joining me tonight again this laker postcast can be heard anywhere you get your podcast if you want to hear laker coverage

every single day through locked on you can course follow brian and and andy they do a fantastic job on a daily basis but i'm with you on the postcast shows and again uh lakewards will be back tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks. We'll talk more Laker basketball tomorrow. But what everybody's going to be talking about is Luca. And Luca, we knew when he came to the Lakers, had a history of getting technical fouls, right? Who else do we know in the NBA that has a history of getting technical fouls? It's Draymond Green. And to the point where Draymond Green literally cost his team an NBA championship in 2016, everybody talks about LeBron James and Cleveland coming down 3-1. If it wasn't for Draymond Green's behavior,

guess what? The Warriors win that one, too. But Jermont Green put his team in a situation that kept him from winning a championship. And it's something that should haunt him. At the same time for the Lakers, we want to see them get to the NBA finals. We want to see them face whoever's coming out of the East, whether that's the Celtics or the calves or you name it. The Lakers have come too far to basically fall short. And they pulled off an amazing deal in getting one of the games premier superstars in Luka.

And then all of a sudden, they're in a situation when we saw it, finally hurt him. And I hurt the Lakers, again, 740 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lakers up by one point. Lakers are playing fine. Lakers took a gamble tonight by deciding to play the stars and not sit, the stars out before Luca faces the Mavericks in Dallas tomorrow. And it's a situation where the Lakers come up short. And so it's frustrating because Luca gets a tea and he gets the tea that gets them ejected.

And we've seen Luca talk to the referees before. And a lot of times, I don't know if you're like me, you're going, man, he got away with that one because he complains a lot. And I understand it's not always easy to sit there and be in a situation where you're, you know, frustrated and you think you're a star and he deserve a certain treatment and you don't get it. But at the same time, the team is always bigger than the individual. And in that situation, Luca knew that he couldn't afford to get another technical foul. Unfortunately, he did. He's ejected. And what does OKC do? They do what great teams do. They go on a 13 to 4 run and the Lakers basically are out of it. And they don't

have a chance and the Lakers played sloppy and they didn't play well and Jared Vanderbilt gets one immediately after. 727. So Luca gets his at 740. Jared Vanderbilt gets his at 7.40. Jared Vanderbiltz is at 727 and it's just all the momentum goes back to the home team. And it's OKC. It's not, you know, the Utah Jazz. It's not the Pelicans. It's a really good team. It's a team that everybody's been talking about how well the Oklahoma City Thunder have played the entire year. And for the Lakers, it's frustration because they had a game that they had a chance to win, and unfortunately, the Lakers can pull this thing off. So it becomes extremely frustrating that you wonder, number one, Luca, how many games

are remaining? Two is we all know that a suspension comes when he heard a certain number, and he's almost at that number. Luca has to basically zip it. He has to keep his mouth shut. He can't look at people in the stands. He can't look at the referee. He can't do anything crazy with players on the other team.

Just play the game. Whatever the call is, the call is. And again, the old saying is, once the referee or the umpire makes his, uh, makes his call, you can't change his mind. And that's basically where it's at right now for the Lakers and Luke and the team is the most important thing. And you got to keep it quiet. And LeBron James, who always thinks he's not getting the calls that he deserves, it becomes

frustrating for LeBron James. But LeBron James is understood after 20 plus years being in this league that, you know, what, either I get the caller, I don't, I can put my hands up in the air, but there's a line that you can't cross. And so it becomes extremely frustrating for us as Laker fans to see them in this situation. where they lose tonight, 136, 120, when they had a chance to win the game. And also, remember this, the Lakers, again, they play the stars. The Lakers could have easily gone out tonight and said, you know what?

We're going to go with what the injury report says. And the injury report was absolutely ridiculous, right? The injury report was crazy out there to see that the Lakers had so many guys that were on the list. It didn't look like the Lakers were going to play their stars at all. But instead, they decided to play Luka and play LeBron and play Austin Reeves, which means they were in it to win it. And the Lakers, unfortunately, fall short. So it becomes frustrating that the Lakers fall short tonight.

We've got a lot to talk about, of course, throughout the show. But, again, this was one that was in hand. And how great would have been to good Oklahoma City and still, too? Because now you're completely in the thunder's head. And maybe you are already of them thinking, man, they came here and blew us out on Sunday. Two days later, again, on our home floor, they're able to get the best of us. So very frustrating night that the Lakers had a chance to do it, that they were all in, to win this game. And unfortunately for them, they weren't able to pull this off. So

frustrating game. Again, Lakers lose. Lakers, of course, as we look at the standings over and over again, and we'll go through those tonight as well. How does that affect the Lakers and moving forward? What is new for them? It's one of those things that we are going to have to think about and be a little bit nervous as we're here we are in the last week of the NBA season. Hey, want to mention the people over at Robin Hood Gold. Don't forget with Robin Hood Gold, you can now enjoy the VIP treatment receiving 3% IRA match on retirement contributions. The privileges the very privilege are no longer exclusive. With Robin Hood Gold, your annual IRA contributions are boosted by 3%. Plus, you also get 4% APY on your cash on non-retirement accounts. That's over eight times

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month. It's better. H-E-L-P dot com slash locked-on MBA. Again, therapy is one of those things you shouldn't be ashamed of at the same time. Don't be afraid to reach out with better help. All right, looking at this Laker team tonight. Again, frustrating loss, 136, 120. They fall short.

It's frustrating that they lose this game. And for I'm sure many of you, it's one of those where, you know, you wish that the Lakers would have come out and took two. Because at the time, going to OKC, I'll be honest. I was like, man, if this team can take one, I'll be 100% satisfied. Of course, they went on Sunday. Very impressive win.

And to see that they're going all in tonight with their stars, I thought the Lakers were going to sit there and obviously pull one out tonight, and they did it. And unfortunately, they did it. But I think a lot of Laker fans, and I know Luka especially is looking forward to the game tomorrow night when they take on the Dallas Mavericks. It is Luca's return to Dallas. Of course, it is after the big trade.

It's the first time Luca going back. We all know that did not end well. We talked about the technical fouls that Luca received tonight that I feel costs the Lakers. At the same time, Luca tomorrow needs to be on his best behavior. Can he do it? If you remember when the Lakers hosted the Mavericks after the trade, Luca was full of talking, right? He was talking to everybody.

He wanted to let everybody know they made a mistake. And anyone that he was once associated with, he was furious with. So what happens when the Lakers go back to Dallas? That's a whole other conversation to talk about and see exactly what happens there. Let's take a look at tonight's box score as far as the way things worked out for the Lakers. And I think there's a big stat in there for them that kind of basically goes to why they lost this game. Your Lakers starting five, basically everybody scored in double digits, which is a good sign except for one guy and it's Jackson Hayes. Again, anything you get

from Jackson Hayes, you take that as a plus. Jackson Hayes finished with seven points, six rebounds to assist on the night. You look at Dorian Finney Smith. He had 12 points in 32 minutes, only two rebounds. Again, expect a little bit more as far as a little bit of help from Dwayne Finney Smith. LeBron James, 28 points in 35 minutes. Fantastic. LeBron got off to that slow start, though, was a little concerning. The big number that hurt LeBron James tonight was the turnovers, and it's always frustrating when LeBron's turnover's numbers are really high. LeBron James had six turnovers tonight, shooting not so bad, he was 8 and 19 from the field, made 3 to 6 from 3 point range, 9 to 10 free throws, not too bad, but again, 28 points, seven rebounds, three assists,

and the number that's in the huge negative is the six turnovers, which we see a lot. Luca, before he was tossed from the game in 31 minutes, he had 23 points on 7 of 15 shooting three of seven from three point range. He also made six to seven free throws, not too bad. He had three turnovers. Austin Reeves, who I think on this team, the turnovers bother him the most,

at least he's most vocal about it, about playing a clean game. Austin Reeves added four turnovers as well. Well, he had 24 points, though, in 38 minutes, missed two key free throws down the stretch, and that hurt the Lakers as Austin raised from the free throw line was 8 at 12. Usually Austin shoots better than that. He was 4 or 7 from 3-point range, 50% of his field goals at 6 at 12. Off the bench for the Lakers, though, they had no players in double digits.

Jared Vanderbilt had eight points. He was 3 or 5 from the field, did an attempt a three-point shot. And for me, if Jared Vanderbilt never shoots, I'm 100% fine with that because Jared Vanderbilt's there for defense. Gabe Vincent had five. Jordan Goodwin had six, Dalton Connect in 14 minutes. He was one of four, and that one shot, of course, was a three-pointer, so he finished with three points on the night for the Lakers. Again, very frustrating. And because it's frustrating saying, hey, the numbers look pretty good from the starting five, as far as four of the five guys hit in double digits, and three of those guys hitting in the 20s, meaning LeBron James

28, Austin Reeves, 24, and Luca 23. but it's the turnovers. 18 turnovers at this point of the season is absolutely ridiculous and basically is is inexcusable. I just can't say anything about it. Like I'm almost at a loss for words that you can turn the ball over 18 times. 18 turnovers, how many attempts does the other team get when you turn the ball over 18 times?

To be fair, let's look at what Oklahoma City did. Their turnover's numbers were only six, six for an entire game. So for the Lakers to turn the ball over that many times and give that many extra attempts to Oklahoma City and the Thunder. Very frustrating. Lakers, you know, free throw shooting tonight, Lakers, they miss nine. They miss nine free throws. So when you mark in those turnovers and you say, okay, we lost by 16, Luca gets ejected. You miss nine free throws.

And you go, okay, you know, you clean it up a little bit. Lakers win that game. And that's what you have to do in the postseason. Lakers have to play better basketball right there. So frustrating when you look at that box score. And for me, it's one of those where, again, tonight as I go to sleep, I go, man, we should have won this game. We should have won this game.

So let's see who is the locked on player of the game. This is the locked on player of the game. You're locked on player of the game, and I hate doing this. This actually hurts my heart when I have to do this, when I don't have to pick a Laker. But it's Shagilgis Alexander against the MVP candidate. Absolutely outstanding. In 37 minutes, he had 40.

He was ridiculous tonight, like he always is, 14 to 26 from the field, made five and nine, three-point shots, nine of 11 free throws, and again, one turnover. Pretty amazing to have the ball in your hands that many times, and only have one turnover. Again, 42 points for Shag Gilgis Alexander. He's your locked-on player of the game. Jalen Williams added 26, of course, for the Thunder. And the Thunder are a team that as good as they are, I don't think a lot of people want to see them in the NBA finals. That said if the thunder were taking on the Celtics, I'm 100% rooting for the thunder to win the NBA finals, but I want to see the Lakers. And I think the Lakers are good enough. And I don't think the Thunder want to play the Lakers at all in the playoffs. I think the Thunder are more scared of the Lakers and the Lakers are of the Thunder. I think the Lakers right now have proven that they're the team in the West that anybody, anyone does not want to face. And they go, that's a bad matchup for them. So when you look at what the standings are tonight, just let you know, the Thunder, of course, have wrapped up the West.

The Rockets have wrapped up second place. The Lakers are in third place. Right now, they're 48 and 31. They're 17 games back. The Nuggets who fired their head coach today. Mr. Malone, you're out of a job. I can't stay on Malone. So very excited by that move.

It's a very strange move that the GM and head coach were fired at this point of the season. But the Nuggets are at the fourth seed, 18 games back. Memphis also 18 games back. Clippers 18 and a half back. And this is the last week of the NBA season. This means a ton. There's a lot going on right now that you have to look at for the Lakers to say, can the Lakers take care of business?

And so to see what the Lakers have to do and everything moving forward, there's a lot going on for this Laker team. And it all starts, of course, tomorrow when they take on the Mavericks. So the three games remaining for the Lakers on the season are Wednesday at Dallas. It's a 430 tip off. Friday, the Lakers are at home against the Rockets, a 7 o'clock tip off. And Sunday, they're at the Portland Trailblazers, 1230 kickoff. then we begin the playoffs.

And we'll see where the Lakers are at. The Lakers right now, my opinion, should take at least two out of three, if not all three of these games. Fully expect them to knock out the Mavericks. They handled the Rockets pretty well a couple of weeks ago. And then the Portland Trail Blazers, they should win that game as well. Lakers should be okay. The Lakers should hold on to this number three seed and be okay going to the postseason.

So for me, I'm comfortable where the Lakers are at. Again, would have preferred to win tonight. Would have been great. they weren't able to get it. So there we go. So again, appreciate you joining me tonight and dealing with my voice. I know it's hard to hear, but in my head, my heart, everything still says Lakers. My voice is all clippers. It's a train wreck right now. So I apologize. Craig, I see you on there. I was wondering where you were at, Craig. So it's nice to see you check it in. Daniel,

thanks for checking in as well. Again, final score tonight, Thunder 136, Lakers, 120. We'll be back tomorrow night after the Lakers take on the Dallas. Mavericks. Have a good night, everybody.