Lakers eliminated by Thunder after crushing Game 4 loss as LeBron James suffers rare sweep

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-gam...