Despite having one of their finest quarters of the season to start the game, the Lakers lost to the Thunder 133-110 on Thursday.

Anthony Davis was one of the few bright spots for the squad, scoring 31 points on 11-18 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds. LeBron James finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, while D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves combined for 30 points and 10 assists for a double-double.

The Lakers’ offense, on the other hand, was not a problem. On the other end, the Thunder outscored the Lakers in second-chance points, fastbreak points, and points in the paint, shooting 53.3% from the floor.

Injuries reduced the Lakers’ roster to the bare essentials. Cam Reddish was out on Thursday for the second night of a back-to-back after returning on Wednesday. On the day, Jaxson Hayes joined him as a scratch, leaving the squad with seven non-rookies available.

The dearth of available people, the second night of a back-to-back, and the fourth and final game of the road trip all contributed to a squad that seemed to be running on fumes for the most of the game.

Given the opponent and the circumstances, the Lakers put up their finest first-quarter performance of the season. And a large part of it was due to Davis.

AD was dominating from the start, imposing his way on the game and pouring in 15 points in the first period. With a great shooting start from distance, the Lakers opened a 14-point lead.

The Thunder, as expected, did not lie down and clawed their way back into the game, first with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander late in the first quarter and then with many others chipping in going into the second. OKC regained the lead at the 7:26 mark of period two, 48-46, on to a Jalen Williams basket.

The Lakers’ foul problems continued to build, and their outside shooting reverted to the mean, resulting in an 11-point advantage at 65-54 following a 17-4 run. The Lakers seemed to be a step slower than the Thunder as the game progressed, and they went into the locker room down 12, tallying a 26-point swing in the first half alone.

The Lakers made no comebacks in the second half, as their advantage only expanded. After consecutive Luguentz Dort layups, OKC called timeout halfway through the third quarter, leading 91-75. Ultimately, there would be no run as the gap grew in the third quarter, with the hosts leading 108-88 after three.

While the Lakers had one more chance to make a run in the fourth quarter, they resisted the impulse to make it competitive, even though the Thunder provided plenty of opportunity for the visitors to get back into the game. The margin was cut to 15 points on many times, and the Lakers played hard enough to make the game competitive for the most of the quarter.

However, with little over four minutes left, a five-point swing effectively ended the game. LeBron found AD for a slam that would have trimmed the deficit to 13 but was denied before OKC hit a 3-pointer, increasing the lead to 18.

That was the moment head coach Darvin Ham threw in the towel, when the Lakers vacated their bench following a timeout.