Maturity Shined Through in OKC’s Brightest Game of the Year

Tuesday night was different for Oklahoma City.

It was the second half of a road back-to-back on the west coast, but the game against the Lakers was secondary.

The eyes on the game were focused on Lebron James, 36 points and a new scoring record. The game was flexed to TNT so the nation could have a chance to watch history be made.

Despite the eyes, the meaning and the pressure, OKC came out looking to spoil the moment. It was clear James was likely going to reach the 36 point mark, the Lakers ran their offense through him.

However, the Thunder’s offense was clicking. At the half James was halfway to the record, but the Thunder were on top by 10.

As each James bucket dropped him closer to passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s long-standing record, the crowd got louder, and the youngest team in the league had to dig deeper.

Maturity was needed Tuesday night for OKC, and they delivered.

With barely over 10 seconds left in the third quarter, James took the ball sized up Kenrich Williams, pushed his shoulder into his chest, launched backward, released the ball and knocked down a shot from the elbow to rewrite history.

At that moment the game stopped. For a while, as James, his family, the fans and the countless A-list celebrities in attendance celebrated the feat.

While the celebration was happening OKC was fighting to maintain a lead that had begun to dwindle.

The Thunder competed and utilized a full team effort to overcome a Lakers comeback to seal the win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed why he’s an All-Star and the leader of the team with his 30 point and eight assist performance.

Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe continued to prove himself off of the bench with a 15 point performance, Mike Muscala showed up scoring 16.

With 25 points and seven rebounds on the night, Jalen Williams was a shining young star. From there, Jaylin Williams also grabbed seven rebounds and garnered seven assists in his 31 minutes.

The game was louder, the lights brighter, key players were missing and a long-standing record was set to be broken, but despite all that Oklahoma City’s young core stepped up, showed maturity and stole a win in LA. 

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