Thunder start Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams
- Oklahoma City opened Game 2 against the Lakers with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Ajay Mitchell — not Jalen Williams. - The key wrinkle was Williams staying out again with a left hamstring strain, while OKC kept its twin-big look after a 108-90 win in Game 1. - Then the bigger thing happened — the Thunder won 125-107 on May 7 to take a 2-0 series lead back to Los Angeles.
The lineup news mattered, but mostly because it showed what Oklahoma City thinks this series is. This is a size-and-pressure matchup now. The Thunder opened Game 2 against the Lakers with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Ajay Mitchell, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein, keeping Jalen Williams out as he continued to recover from a left hamstring strain. Then OKC backed up the choice with a 125-107 win on May 7, taking a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. (si.com) ### Wait — wasn’t Jalen Williams starting? No — and that’s the first thing to clear up. Some early framing around the game treated Williams as part of the expected core, but the actual pre-tip lineup had Ajay Mitchell in that spot. Williams remained unavailable because of the hamstring issue that has lingered since the first round, so this was not a full-strength Thunder five. (si.com) ### Why keep Holmgren and Hartenstein together? Because the Lakers are forcing teams to choose between size and speed, and OKC is trying to dodge that tradeoff. Holmgren gives the Thunder vertical spacing and weak-side rim protection. Hartenstein gives them screening, rebounding, and another big body around th(si.com)hat the Thunder can win this series by making the Lakers finish over length all night. (si.com) ### So what did the lineup say about the game plan? It said defense first. Dort is there to make life miserable on the perimeter. Mitchell is the low-usage connector who can survive next to Gilgeous-Alexander. And the two-big setup tells you OKC wanted to own the glass and the rim before worrying about elegance. That’s not a cute experiment anymore — it’s a playoff identity. (si.com) ### Did it actually work? Yes. The Thunder didn’t just survive with that group — they pushed the series to 2-0 with a comfortable Game 2 win. That matters more than any pregame lineup card. A coach can try a look for matchup reasons, but once it helps produce a 125-107 result, it stops being a temporary patch and starts looking like a real answer. (nypost.com) ### Why is Ajay Mitchell the interesting piece? Because he changes the feel of the lineup without hijacking it. Mitchell isn’t there to dominate the ball. He’s there to keep the machine running while Gilgeous-Alexander drives the offense. In a playoff series, that kind of low-maintenance guard can be valuable — especially when the stars and bigs are doing the heavy lifting. (sports.yahoo.com) ### What does 2-0 really mean here? It means the Lakers are already in response mode. Oklahoma City won Game 1 by 18 points, 108-90, and followed it with an 18-point Game 2 win, 125-107. Two straight wins by the same margin is not a fluke. It suggests the Thunder have found a version of this matchup that the Lakers still haven’t solved. (nba.com) ### What should you watch next? Watch whether Williams returns for Game 3 on May 9 in Los Angeles, and whether OKC sticks with the same starting five even if he does. That’s the real question now. The Thunder didn’t just reveal who started Game 2 — they revealed the shape they trust in this series. (sportingnews.com)b46b88b57ebc2)) ### Bottom line The headline wasn’t “Thunder start their stars.” It was that Oklahoma City started a patched-together group, kept the twin-big formula, and still looked fully in control. That’s why this matters. The lineup was the clue. The 2-0 lead was the proof. (si.com)
