The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 in an NBA playoff thriller, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP and finalist for the award this season, scored 22 points and the Thunder capitalized on 21 Lakers turnovers to hand LeBron James a defeat in his 300th career playoff game.

Chet Holmgren added 22 points and nine rebounds, Ajay Mitchell chipped in 20 points, and Jared McCain delivered 18 points off the bench. Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 31 points.

James, who became the first player to contest 300 postseason games, scored 23 points and dished six assists. The Lakers led by five early in the third quarter, but with Luka Doncic sidelined by injury, they couldn't hold on.

Oklahoma City produced a 22-5 scoring run to seize control. The series shifts to Los Angeles for games three and four on Saturday and Monday.

Gilgeous-Alexander said: "We've got to be the aggressor. I feel like they were playing with more force... As long as we take care of that we should have our foot in the right direction."

Lakers coach JJ Redick criticized the officiating, saying the Thunder "have a few guys who commit a foul on every possession," but added: "We didn't lose because of the refs."

In Detroit, the Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 to also take a 2-0 series lead. Cade Cunningham scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and added 10 assists.

Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 31 points for Cleveland, but James Harden had just 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting and four turnovers. The series moves to Cleveland for games three and four.

Source: www.aljazeera.com