Two days after suffering a 27-point defeat to the Lakers, the No 1-ranked Thunder avenged that loss on Tuesday thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander’s 13th 40-point game of the season, with Jalen Williams adding 26 and Lugentz Dort 17.
The contest pivoted on the fourth quarter incident that led to the Lakers’ Slovenian star Doncic picking up a second technical foul and being tossed from the game.
Doncic was ejected following a one-handed jump shot that put the Lakers 108-107 up with 7min 40sec remaining after officiating crew member J T Orr judged he had been verbally abused by the player following the bucket.
Doncic protested, arguing he had merely been responding to a fan at courtside who had heckled him, but the decision stood and clearly rattled the Lakers, allowing the Thunder to seize the initiative and pull away for victory.
“It was a great game that unfortunately didn’t get the finish that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision making on some individuals’ parts,” Lakers coach J J Redick said.
LeBron James, who finished with 28 points, was at a loss to explain Doncic’s ejection.
“I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal,” James said.
“The ref took it upon himself to think it was versus him. The game was just weird as hell after that.”
Doncic insisted he had not been trash-talking Orr.
“It was nothing to do with the ref, so I didn’t really understand it,” Doncic said.
“It was tough, but you know that’s on me too. I can’t let my team down like that.”
The Lakers remain in third place with a 48-31 record and need to win two of their remaining three regular-season fixtures to lock in third seeding in the Western Conference.
The Cleveland Cavaliers clinched N.1 seeding in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs after cruising past the Chicago Bulls 135-113.
Darius Garland led the scoring with 28 points in a balanced offensive performance from the Cavs, who improved to 63-16 to ensure they will finish the regular season on top of the East.
The victory ensures Cleveland will have home advantage when the playoffs get under way next week following the completion of the regular season on Sunday. (AFP)
