Thunder top Lakers for 3-0 NBA series lead, Cavs claw back against Pistons

The Oklahoma City Thunder used another explosive second half to beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 131-108 on Saturday, pushing the Lakers to the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs.

Ajay Mitchell scored 24 points and handed out 10 assists without a turnover to help the Thunder take a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.

The Lakers will host game four on Monday trying to become the first NBA team to rally from 3-0 down to win a playoff series.

“I’m not giving up on this series,” defiant Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’re going to try to win on Monday. We’re going to try to extend the series and we’re going to try to take this thing back to OKC.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers, fueled by 35 points from Donovan Mitchell and clutch shooting from James Harden, avoided falling in a similar hole, grabbing a crucial 116-109 game-three victory over the Detroit Pistons to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

The Cavs, who dropped the first two games in Detroit, remained unbeaten at home in these playoffs.

But the Lakers, still without injured scoring champion Luka Doncic, couldn’t conjure a crucial win as their series shifted to Los Angeles.

Rui Hachimura led the Lakers with 21 points and James added 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

But the Thunder’s depth was just too much for the depleted Lakers.

“That’s the strength of their team,” Redick said.

With reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander connecting on just seven of 20 shots from the floor, second-year guard Mitchell — starting in place of injured Jalen Williams — stepped up.

“He’s a gamer,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 23 points. “It might be a shock to the world, but this is no shock to us.”

As in game two, the Lakers took a two-point lead into half-time, this one largely on the strength of 11 first-half three-pointers.

But again the Thunder exploded in the third period, opening the second half on a 21-6 scoring run.

After that it was all but over. The Lakers connected on just eight of 22 shots from the field in the third period, including just one from three-point range. Their turnovers began to mount, and the Thunder pushed their lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander said the Thunder, who swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round, will “absolutely” be aiming to finish off the Lakers on Monday.

“We would never want to waste an opportunity to win a basketball game,” he said. “We’ve got to do the same thing we did in the first three games — be the aggressor, play the right way together.”

Harden on target

In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell added 10 rebounds and four assists. Harden, a three-time NBA scoring champion, scored nine of his 19 points in a tight fourth quarter, drilling a trio of baskets that included a dagger trey that pushed Cleveland’s lead to four with 25.9 seconds left.

“I love it,” Harden said. “When your number’s called, just getting to my spots. And it’s something that I work on literally every day.”

Harden’s lackluster offensive numbers and late-game miscues in games one and two sparked criticism, but the veteran said he’d taken the “chatter” in stride.

“Chatter is going to be chatter regardless,” he said. “Whether you do something good, whether you do something bad, you give me opportunities in this fourth quarter, and I take advantage of them.”

The Cavs withstood a 27-point triple-double from Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, who added 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Cleveland led 64-48 at half-time and pushed the lead to 17 early in the third before the Pistons clawed back.

Detroit managed to edge ahead with less than four minutes to play before Cleveland responded again.

They will try to get the series back on level terms when they host game four on Monday.