The Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, putting them at a 2-0 deficit in the series, according to a May 9 statement. Luke Kennard said after the game that the team must do a better job taking care of the ball and staying composed when facing Oklahoma City’s scoring surges.
Kennard’s comments highlight concerns about turnovers and defensive focus during critical moments. He said, “They do a good job of capitalizing on turnovers. Obviously that’s gonna be a big thing for us. We knew that going into it, their physicality. We just gotta stay poised, under control when they go on those runs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it overall, but it’s gonna take a full game, full 48 minutes.”
The Lakers committed 20 turnovers leading to 26 points for the Thunder and were outscored by an extended run in the third quarter while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench. Kennard addressed this issue directly: “We gotta be ready and prepared,” he said. “Those guys come in, they’re a spark for them on the floor. We know that, we know what they can do and it’s on us to try to be better especially when Shai’s out of the game. They’ve won those minutes and that’s on us, it’s on me and we have to be better with that and try to take them out when we can.”
Kennard also emphasized increasing defensive intensity: “We need to up our physicality,” he said. “Obviously we’ve been putting two guys on Shai a lot. Kinda letting some of those guys get open looks, but when Shai’s off the floor we really gotta sit down and guard and try to take some of those guys out. Our physicality has to go up another level and we know that and it’s something we’ll definitely talk about and figure out.”
Other players echoed similar sentiments following Game 2; Rui Hachimura mentioned concerns about focusing too much defensive attention on Gilgeous-Alexander at the expense of other Thunder players.
As both teams prepare for upcoming games in this playoff series, adjustments will likely focus on minimizing turnovers while balancing defensive assignments across all key Oklahoma City contributors.
