Three Takeaways from the OKC Thunder's Big Loss to the Los Angeles Lakers

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a 126-99 loss at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon inside Paycom Center.

It was never very close as the Lakers shot right out the gate from deep and did so at an insanely high clip while the Thunder could not gather its bearings and never gained enough momentum to make it a competitive contest.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 26 points and zero free throw attemps was not enough for Oklahoma CIty in the end, as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves combined for 50 points.

Let's take a look at some key takeaways from Sunday afternoon's contest:

LakeShow Heats Up Early

Los Angeles was on a tear to say the least to kick the game off, and nearly broke a franchise record in the first half.

Tying its franchise best of 15 threes in a single half, the Lakers did so on only 22 tries, with one of those attempts being a heave at the end of the second quarter. Everyone was hitting their own, from Reaves, Doncic, LeBron James, Dorian Finney-Smith to Gabe Vincent and Rui Hachimura.

They were on fire, and the Thunder wasn't giving its best effort to ward off solid looks from deep. All the momentum, on a roll from beyond the arc and open looks are a recipe for a blow-out game, and that's exactly what the Lakers forged in this one.

Doncic, Reaves Have a Ball

Doncic and Reaves paired together was unsightly for Oklahoma City.

This was the Thunder's first look at this tandem. They gave them problems, as the pair combined for nine threes on just 19 tries, 18-of-35 from the field to tally 50 combined points, nine assists and three steals. As a team, the Lakers shot a masterful 55% from three-point range and 54.8% from the field, having six less shot attempts than the Thunder.

It was tough to contain either of these players individually, let alone having them get the hot hand in the same contest.

No Charity Trips for SGA

Gilgeous-Alexander's 26 points saw him with less than his typical 30, and a large part of that was due to not having a single trip to the free throw line throughout the contest.

His season average of around nine free throws per game could question a bit how he could not find himself at the line once throughout the game, but he had to rely on his raw efficiency from the field as he shot 12-for-23 on the afternoon.

Only two Thunders found themselves at the stripe in this one; Jalen WIlliams and Aaron Wiggins. Williams found himself with eight attempts while Wiggins had four, as Oklahoma City shot 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Next, the Thunder will face the Lakers once again at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside Paycom Center.