On March 5, Beijing time, the NBA regular season game continued. The Los Angeles Lakers sat at home and welcomed the challenge of the Thunder, the No. 1 team in the West. The back-to-back Thunder were in poor form in this game, and the Lakers eventually defeated the Thunder 116-104. The winning Lakers overtook the Warriors to move up to No. 9 in the West, while the Thunder dropped from No. 1 in the West.
Lakers (34-29): James 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, Davis 24 points and 12 rebounds, Reaves 16 points and 7 assists, Russell 26 points and 6 rebounds.
Thunder (42-19): Alexander 20 points and 7 rebounds, Holmgren 15 points and 7 rebounds, Dort 15 points, Keady 13 points and 5 rebounds.
The Thunder got off to a strong start in the first quarter, with Alexander, Keady and Holmgren leading the way to a 13-2 start. The Lakers hit back-to-back three-pointers in the second half of the game, and a 12-0 run helped them take a 23-22 lead at 1:02. At the end of the first quarter, the two sides were tied 25-25.
In the second quarter, the Thunder's shooting percentage dropped, and the Lakers blossomed more, playing a wave of 12-0 attacks, and the Lakers led the Thunder by 10 points at 7:27 37-27. Dort hit three three-pointers to help the Thunder chase 36-38. But the rest of the Thunder team still didn't get back to their shooting touch, and the Lakers once again opened up the difference. At halftime, the Lakers led by nine points at 52-43.
Jalen Williams and Holmgren hit back-to-back three-pointers in the third quarter as the Thunder scored nine straight points to make it 57-59. After the middle of the period, the Lakers went on a 12-0 run, 79-64 to stretch the deficit to 15 points, and the Thunder called a timeout. After the timeout, the two sides went back and forth, and the Lakers led by 17 points at 89-72 in the third quarter.
Russell hit three three-pointers in the final quarter to help the Lakers lead 103-79 to 24 points. Since then, the Lakers have maintained a lead of about 20 points, and the two sides have withdrawn their main forces one after another, and the game entered garbage time early. In the end, garbage time Thunder scored back-to-back points to close the gap. In the end, the game was over, and the Lakers won 116-104.