Consecutive 18-point losses haven’t zapped the Los Angeles Lakers of their belief they can recover to make it a series with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But a third straight setback would undoubtedly feel like a near-knockout punch.

The Lakers look to get off the mat on Saturday night and back into the Western Conference second-round series when they host the defending champion Thunder.

The two losses in Oklahoma City aren’t the only results that have the Lakers wondering whether they can solve the top-seeded Thunder.

The Thunder and Lakers have played six times this season and Oklahoma City has won them all with an average victory margin of 25.5 points.

The Thunder’s regular-season victory margins were 29, 9, 43 and 36 points. The latter two were played April 2 in Oklahoma City — the last time All-Star guard Luka Doncic has played — and April 7 in Los Angeles. And with Doncic (hamstring) still sidelined, the situation is bleak.

LeBron James averages 25 points in this series and might have to put on the Superman cape for any chance of a comeback. But Thunder guard Alex Caruso says nobody should overlook what the 41-year-old James can do.

“He’s always ready for the moment,” said Caruso, a teammate of James for three seasons (2018-21) with the Lakers. “Everybody wants to talk about his age, but he’s still LeBron James. He’s still capable of being the best player on the court any given night.”

Still, James is concerned about the Game 2 loss putting Los Angeles in a deep hole against the Thunder.

“We tried to execute (the game plan) as close to 48 minutes as possible, but it just didn’t get done,” James said of the 125-107 road loss.

Austin Reaves provided hope with a career playoff-high 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting. The effort came in his fourth game back from an oblique injury.

“I thought he did a good job touching the paint and those tough shots were there,” Los Angeles coach JJ Redick said. “Got some good looks from three. He played a solid game. Obviously he had five turnovers, but everybody on our team had turnovers.”

The Lakers turned the ball over 21 times on Thursday, leading to 26 Oklahoma City points.

Los Angeles seemed to be in good position when it led 65-61 with 10:34 left in the third quarter and Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headed to the bench after committing his fourth foul.

Instead, Oklahoma City dominated the rest of the quarter and outscored the Lakers 32-15 as Gilgeous-Alexander watched from the bench. That allowed the Thunder to lead 93-80 entering the fourth quarter.

“It was amazing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the bench play. “They strung together stops, they’re playing the right way offensively and things are going their way. Full confidence in those guys. They know how to win basketball games. And we’ve proven that. They’ve proven that no matter who’s on the floor, they know how to get the job done.”

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points in Game 2 and the reigning league MVP is averaging just 20 per game in the series with the Lakers devoting multiple defenders to him on nearly every possession.

The philosophy has helped Thunder big man Chet Holmgren flourish. He is averaging 23 points and 10.5 rebounds in the series.

“He’s the ultimate winner anyways, but he was the ultimate winner (Thursday),” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “There’s nothing he can’t do. When the lights are on, he’s at his best.”

Thunder star Jalen Williams (hamstring) remains out, but his absence in Game 2 was minimized as Ajay Mitchell scored 20 points while filling Williams’ starting spot again and Jared McCain poured in 18 off the bench.

–Field Level Media

Zach Cole hit a three-run homer during a five-run ninth inning and the visiting Houston Astros beat Cincinnati 10-0 on Friday, sending the Reds to their eighth straight defeat.

Zach Dezenzo, Yordan Alvarez and Christian Vazquez also homered for Houston, which opened the three-game series by recording its third shutout of the season.

Mike Burrows (2-4) allowed three hits with one walk and six strikeouts over a career-high seven innings. He retired the last 11 batters he faced.

The Reds were outhit 13-5 while being blanked for the fourth time this season. Cincinnati has lost nine of its last 10 to fall into last place in the National League Central.

Vazquez followed Cole’s homer in the ninth with a solo shot against Tony Santillan. The Astros continued their onslaught against position player Jose Trevino, who made his fourth pitching appearance of the season.

Houston set the tone with two runs in the second inning against Nick Lodolo (0-1), who was making his season debut after dealing with a blister on his left index finger.

Lodolo retired the first two batters in the second before Brice Matthews tripled and scored when Dezenzo deposited a 1-2 sinker into the right field seats.

Cincinnati’s best scoring threat came when it loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Burrows escaped the jam when Spencer Steer flied out and Tyler Stephenson struck out on three pitches.

Houston added to its lead in the sixth when Jose Altuve was hit by a pitch with one out and Alvarez followed with a two-run homer to right center. The 407-foot blast was Alvarez’s team-leading 13th homer of the season.

Lodolo allowed four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Houston tacked on a run in the eighth inning against Tejay Antone when Altuve hit a leadoff double, moved to third on Alvarez’s groundout and scored on Isaac Paredes’ groundout to second.

–Field Level Media

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.–A week after chastising himself at Texas for repeated failure to win NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races, Kaden Honeycutt pulled off his first career victory over the two drivers who have dominated NASCAR road courses over the past two years.

Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Connor Zilisch through tight Turn 1 on the first lap of overtime and pulled away for his first victory in the series in Friday’s Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen.

A few hours earlier, Honeycutt had won the ARCA Menards Series race on the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International circuit. With the Truck Series win, he became the second driver to win both an ARCA race and Truck Series event on the same day, joining Sam Mayer (2020 at Bristol) in that distinction.

“It’s just amazing,” said Honeycutt, who got to the finish line 0.902 second ahead of Zilisch. “I can’t believe I just won on a road course. It’s just unbelievable.”

Honeycutt proceeded to shotgun a beer beneath the flag stand, reveling in the liquid pouring across his face.

The victory was no easy accomplishment for the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, which went to Victory Lane last year at The Glen with Corey Heim behind the wheel.

Honeycutt drew a penalty near the end of the second stage for pitting when pit road was closed and was forced to restart the final 32-lap stage from the rear of the field. A series of cautions and restart violations by both Ross Chastain and Gio Ruggiero, however, helped Honeycutt on his march back to the front.

“On the restart, I think Zilisch missed a shift a little bit coming off of (Turn) 7, and I was tight to him,” Honeycutt said. “The only option I had… we were three-wide going into (Turn) 1, and I barely got to his right rear and touched him a little bit.

“It was just enough to scoot by him. As soon as I got the lead, I pulled my visor up, and I was full-blown focused after that.”

Five-time 2025 NASCAR Cup Series road course winner Shane van Gisbergen finished third, thanks to the New Zealander’s ability to pick off cars during the series of late restarts.

Daniel Hemric was fourth and Chandler Smith fifth, followed by Ram Free Agent driver AJ Allmendinger, pole winner Brent Crews, Mini Tyrrell, Brenden Queen and Connor Mosack. The race marked the first time multiple Ram drivers (Allmendinger, Tyrrell and Queen) finished in the top 10 in the brand’s return to NASCAR racing this year.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race — Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen

Watkins Glen International

Watkins Glen, New York

Friday, May 8, 2026

1. (7) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 74.

2. (5) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 74.

3. (8) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 74.

4. (3) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 74.

5. (11) Chandler Smith, Ford, 74.

6. (16) AJ Allmendinger(i), RAM, 74.

7. (1) Brent Crews(i), Toyota, 74.

8. (30) Mini Tyrrell, RAM, 74.

9. (29) Brenden Queen #, RAM, 74.

10. (4) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 74.

11. (17) Jake Garcia, Ford, 74.

12. (23) Corey LaJoie, RAM, 74.

13. (22) Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 74.

14. (20) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 74.

15. (6) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 74.

16. (15) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 74.

17. (18) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 74.

18. (19) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 74.

19. (27) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 74.

20. (31) Nathan Nicholson, Chevrolet, 74.

21. (13) Layne Riggs, Ford, 74.

22. (35) Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 74.

23. (25) Justin Haley, RAM, 74.

24. (2) Ty Majeski, Ford, 74.

25. (21) Adam Andretti, Toyota, Accident, 73.

26. (34) Jackson Lee, Ford, 70.

27. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Accident, 68.

28. (33) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 68.

29. (26) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 64.

30. (14) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 64.

31. (10) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 60.

32. (9) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 60.

33. (12) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, Transmission, 57.

34. (32) Wesley Slimp, Toyota, Accident, 34.

35. (24) Cole Butcher #, Ford, DVP, 31.

36. (36) Natalie Decker, Ford, Too Slow, 20.

–Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service