Playoff Pulse: Thunder bury Lakers, Cavs answer Pistons in Game 3

Playoff Pulse: Thunder bury Lakers, Cavs answer Pistons in Game 3

The two-game Friday slate told two very different stories. In Los Angeles, Oklahoma City turned a third quarter into an evisceration and walked out with a 3-0 stranglehold on the West semifinal. In Cleveland, the Cavaliers grabbed back a series the Pistons had been quietly running and pulled within 2-1 with a half-night from Donovan Mitchell that read like a stat sheet typo.

Thunder 131, Lakers 108, OKC leads 3-0

Oklahoma City did not so much win Game 3 in Los Angeles as audit the Lakers, line by line. The final margin was 23 and it flattered the home team. The Thunder shot 17-of-38 from three for 45%, hammered the offensive glass on the way to a 43-37 rebound edge, and turned the Lakers over often enough to bend an entire half. Twelve steals. Three blocks. Ten turnovers conceded. Defensively that is a near-perfect playoff line.

The Lakers were not bad shooters on the night. They went 14-for-30 from deep at 47%, a mark that on most nights drags a team to a win. They were efficient at the rim and even crisp in transition early. Where they lost the game was at the lever points, the moments where a possession either ends in a clean look or in Oklahoma City racing the other way. Seventeen turnovers, only 18 free throws on 25 attempts for 72%, and a foul-line gap that mattered more in the third quarter than it will read tomorrow.

What the Thunder are doing in this series is wider than any one star. Ajay Mitchell's 24 and 10 off the bench was the loudest individual line of the night, but it was the rotation as a whole that bullied the matchup. OKC's second unit outscored the Lakers' second unit on every clock, in every quarter. When Coach JJ Redick went to depth to weather a Thunder run, the Thunder's depth was just better. That is the part of being up 3-0 that travels. Going home for Game 4 with a sweep on the table is a different kind of pressure than holding serve, and Los Angeles does not have a clear lever to pull beyond hoping its starters extend their minutes and survive.

Cavaliers 116, Pistons 109, Detroit leads 2-1

Cleveland needed Game 3 the way the Lakers needed Game 3 and unlike the Lakers, the Cavaliers actually got it. The lead changed hands repeatedly, the late-game possessions tightened the way playoff late-game possessions are supposed to tighten, and Cleveland made the bigger plays inside the final two minutes. The number that travels is Donovan Mitchell's 35-point night, which the Cavs needed to the dollar. James Harden was second-banana on the scoring sheet but added the closing shot-making, three buckets in the last three minutes that turned a one-score game into a manageable cushion.

The shape of the box score is unusual for a Cleveland win. The Cavaliers shot 38% from three, 12-for-32, which is below their playoff pace. They rebounded under their season average, ceding a 40-33 board advantage to a Detroit team that had been comfortable on the glass for two games. They hit 18 free throws but missed 10, leaving points behind from the line. What they leaned on instead was rim protection, seven blocks against a Pistons team that has been getting whatever it wanted at the basket through the first 96 minutes of this series. That, plus Mitchell's volume and Harden's clutch creation, was enough.

Detroit will look at the tape and see a winnable game. Cade Cunningham steered the offense to 23 assists and only 15 turnovers, the kind of efficiency that should beat a struggling 3-point shooting night from Cleveland. Twelve steals to the Cavaliers' three was a real defensive showing. The Pistons still lead 2-1 in this series, and they still have home court for Game 4. What they did not do on Friday was knock the Cavaliers out of their comfort zone for 48 minutes, and they will need to in the next one.

What carries forward

Two games, two stories, one through-line. Depth is winning playoff possessions on the road. Oklahoma City's bench broke open a third quarter the Lakers could not patch. Cleveland's centers blunted Detroit's interior trips often enough to give Mitchell room to play hero ball at the other end. Star scoring still mattered most where it mattered most, but the rotation behind the stars decided each game. Game 4s land Sunday for both series.