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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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The Los Angeles Lakers had their best effort thus far against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of their second-round series, but still came up on the other side of a 125-107.
LeBron James and company held a slight lead going into halftime, and even extended to as much as a six-point lead at one point in the second half, but the Thunder kept showing their depth and knocking down shots.
Despite being on the bench with foul trouble for large stretches of the game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 points, while teammate Chet Holmgren added 22, and Ajay Mitchell contributed 20 points.
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Meanwhile, LeBron gave another top-level effort with 23 points, and actually had a lot of help from teammate Austin Reaves, who came through with a game-high 31 points.
However, OKC outscored the Lakers 68-49 in the second half, including 36-22 in the third quarter, to seize control of the game.
More news: NBA Announces LeBron James History With Lakers Playoff Game
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However, the Lakers were frustrated over the officiating in Game 2, and it showed, with multiple players on the court speaking with the game's referees after the loss.
Lakers coach JJ Redick spoke about LeBron getting the "worst whistle" of any superstar at his postgame press conference, while Reaves said the referee was disrespectful to him during the game and yelled in his face.
Reporters attempted to get LeBron to share his thoughts on how the referees were regarding calls for or against the teams in Game 2, but he gave short answers and seemed uninterested in talking much.
"We're down 2-0," he said when asked about how the officiating factored into the runs the Thunder went on.
"I don't know," LeBron said after being asked about Redick's saying that he has the worst whistle of any superstar in the league.
King James is clearly frustrated with trying to get wins against a tough OKC squad and battling challenging calls from the referees. In particular, he had a heated discussion with a referee on a shot he made that got waved off due to a Thunder player fouling.
LeBron kept arguing that he was in the act of shooting, and the commentary team, specifically Stan Van Gundy, seemed to agree that his basket should've counted. The video footage also clearly shows LeBron getting hit as he's shooting and making the shot.
Meanwhile, the Lakers' superstar was clearly avoiding any fines as several players, including the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker and Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown, have recently received them for calling into question the officiating during these NBA Playoffs.
Game 3 between the Thunder and Lakers arrives Saturday night in Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m. EST.
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