Before the Lakers successfully ended their first round playoff series against the Rockets, coach JJ Redick explained what makes close out games so challenging.
“You have to kill them,” Redick said. “It’s difficult to kill someone. Survival instincts say, ‘I want to stay alive.’ So, you got to be able to kill them. That’s what [it takes].”
The Lakers’ sense of urgency in Monday’s Game 4 against the Thunder at Crypto.com Arena, with their season on the line, showed exactly why that’s the case.
But in the end, the Thunder killed the Lakers’ 2025-26 season, with the Lakers falling to the Thunder, 115-110, in Game 4 to be eliminated from the playoffs.
“When the season ends there’s always a whirlwind of emotions,” Redick said. “I am certainly feeling a sense of gratitude for our players, the Lakers, and our fan base. You’ve seen these 3-0 games before; I thought there were two different times during the game where our team could have gave in or let go of the rope. We didn’t.”
Each fourth-quarter bucket from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell were deep gashes into the Lakers’ chest.
The Lakers kept responding, not letting anything take away from their fight, getting big plays from everyone on the floor late.
But there were too many daggers to recover from.
The Lakers didn’t score in the final 30 seconds. And the Thunder got dunks from Chet Holmgren and pairs of free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander and Mitchell to close out Game 4.
Austin Reaves (27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), Rui Hachimura (25 points), LeBron James (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Jaxson Hayes (18 points, 5 rebounds) all came up big late.
But the Thunder still delivered. And were simply better for the entire series.
“They’re really f—–g good,” Reaves said.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 35 points and eight assists.
Mitchell added 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting, while Holmgren added 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Lakers’ season ended with a four-game sweep to the defending champions — just the fourth time in James’ career his team has been swept in the playoffs.
The other times: 2007 NBA Finals against the Spurs, 2018 Finals against the Warriors and the 2023 Western Conference finals to the Nuggets.
The Thunder will face either the Spurs or Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals.
When Jared McCain hit a 3-pointer to cut the Lakers’ lead from 89-84 to three with 8:24 left in the fourth.
It provided a screeching halt to the Lakers’ momentum that they carried over from the third quarter, which they won 39-31.
The reigning league MVP saved his best game for the end of the series.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 11-for-22 from the field and 12-for-15 on free throws.
He and Mitchell combined for 19 of the Thunder’s 35 points in the fourth quarter.
Taking care of the ball was an emphasis entering the series.
The Lakers once again failed to do that, turning the ball over 19 times. Reaves had a team-worst eight turnovers, while Marcus Smart had six.
The Thunder scored 22 points off of the Lakers’ giveaways.
Exit interviews for the Lakers, with Redick and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka speaking with reporters on Tuesday morning.
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