Thunder, Pistons Win Game 2 In Play-Off Semi-Finals

Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons both moved 2-0 up in their NBA Conference semi-finals with home victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers respectively.

Defending champions Thunder beat the Lakers 125-107 in their Western Conference tie, with Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scoring 22 points.

LeBron James added 23 points for the Lakers but his side let slip a five-point lead to trail by 13 at the end of a pivotal third quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, was limited to 28 minutes on the court because of a series of fouls.

Cade Cunningham starred for the Pistons in their 107-97 Eastern Conference win against the Cavaliers, scoring 25 points – including 12 in the fourth quarter – and contributing 10 assists.

Tobias Harris added 21 points for the Pistons, his seventh consecutive score of 20 or more points in the play-offs, having not reached that mark in back-to-back games in the regular season.

Both winning teams – who are the respective top seeds in their conferences – go on the road for Saturday’s fixtures in the best-of-seven semi-finals, with Thunder looking to extend their unbeaten run in this season’s play-offs.