Ajay Mitchell stars as Thunder rout Lakers, take 3-0 series lead
Ajay Mitchell’s 24-point, 10-assist breakthrough turned Oklahoma City’s depth into the story, as the Thunder took a 3-0 lead and moved one win from the West finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are not winning this series on star power alone. Ajay Mitchell turned Game 3 into a breakout showcase, scoring 24 points and dishing 10 assists in a 131-108 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, pushing Oklahoma City to a 3-0 lead and one win from the Western Conference finals.
Mitchell, who entered the night filling in for the injured Jalen Williams, delivered career playoff highs in both points and assists. He scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, helping fuel a 21-6 surge out of halftime that broke the game open. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 23 points and nine assists, and the two combined for 47 points and 19 assists in a performance that showed how relentlessly the Thunder can attack from multiple angles.
That balance has defined the series. Oklahoma City won Game 1 by 18 points, 108-90, then followed with a 125-107 victory in Game 2 before Saturday night’s 23-point blowout. The Thunder are 7-0 in the 2026 playoffs, and the first three wins have all come by double digits, a run that reflects more than elite top-end talent. Mitchell, the 38th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, has become the latest example of Oklahoma City turning roster depth into playoff leverage.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Mitchell averaged 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the 2025-26 regular season, but his postseason rise has been sharper still. With Williams sidelined, Mitchell has seized a larger role and given the Thunder another ballhandler who can create offense, punish mismatches and keep the pace tilted toward Oklahoma City. For a team already built around Gilgeous-Alexander, that kind of development may be the clearest sign of how the Thunder are constructing a title contender.
The Lakers now face Game 4 on Monday in Los Angeles with their season on the brink. JJ Redick said after the loss that his team intended to keep fighting and try to extend the series, but Oklahoma City has already shown how narrow that path is. Another night like Game 3, and the Thunder will move on with their deepest supporting cast staking the strongest claim yet to a title-defining role.
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