LeBron James continues to lead Lakers’ road dominance in rout over Thunder

LeBron James sized up Oklahoma City forward Isaiah Roby on the wing early in the third quarter, dribbling the ball back and forth between his legs four times before gathering for a side-step and launching a three-pointer that settled into the net while being fouled.

James turned around and looked into the stands, his head bobbing, his teammates in awe at their leader making yet another three-pointer on this night that the Lakers made easy work of the Thunder 128-99 Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

He made the free throw to compete the four-point play that gave the Lakers another 24-point lead like they had in the second quarter. That was part of James’ 26 points on nine-for-20 shooting, including five for eight on three-pointers.

He did all this in just 27 minutes, taking a seat on the bench and putting on his mask on with nine minutes 15 seconds left and the Lakers holding a 102-76 lead.

James began his three-point blitz with three triples in the second quarter, the shots coming in a barrage. He then hit the Thunder for back-to-back threes in the third quarter, showing that his three-point game was still on point.

For good measures, James added six rebounds and seven assists in doing more than his share to help the Lakers improve to 7-0 on the road, the best start in franchise history.

They won all three games on this trip by an average of 21.3 points per game, sending them home with the best record in the NBA at 10-3.

It all looked so easy for the Lakers in the second quarter, a lead of 46-32 early in the period coming seemingly without a sweat.

Anthony Davis was having his way, having scored 12 points in the first quarter.

Then James took over in the second quarter, scoring 11 points in the period to give him 15 by the half.

The Lakers got sloppy and started to look bored, their attention span waning more than enough to give the Thunder some confidence.

With a quick little blitz, the Thunder closed out the second on a 14-2 run against a Lakers team now sleepwalking towards the intermission, their big lead now down to 58-46 at the half.Oklahoma City’s surge didn’t last, as the Lakers built their lead to as much as 31 points.