Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers had equity, earning it in a dominant win Sunday afternoon against the best team in the West.They had reasons to punt on Tuesday’s rematch with the Oklahoma City Thunder, namely a game on Wednesday in Dallas and a schedule that demanded they win just two more times to secure the third seed in their conference, putting them in strong position for a deep playoff run.And Monday, when they issued an injury report with the bulk of their rotation listed as “questionable,” it sure seemed like the Lakers were going to let big-picture thinking get in the way of the game in front of them.But the message from JJ Redick was clear. Lakers forward LeBron James passes over the top of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams Tuesday in Oklahoma City. (Kyle Phillips / Associated Press) “We can control whether or not we get the [No. 3] seed and we’ve got four chances to get two wins,” the Lakers coach said before Tuesday’s game. “I’d like to win them all. So yeah, that’s the thought.”The Lakers played hard, they played with passion. They made mistakes and turned the ball over but they fought. They and the Thunder delivered on the kind of big-game intensity you’d want when two of the NBA’s top teams meet in April.And then Luka Doncic got ejected.“It was a great game. It was a great game that unfortunately didn’t get to finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision making on some individuals’ parts,” Redick said. Official J.T. Orr ejected Doncic, who already had been called for a technical foul in the second half, after Doncic scored to put the Lakers up in the fourth and yelled in Orr’s direction. The Lakers and Doncic argued he was yelling at a courtside fan but it didn’t matter. Orr thought he was the target, according to a postgame statement from crew chief Tony Brothers, and Doncic’s night was done.And essentially so were the Lakers, headed to a 136-120 loss and forced to settle for a split.The Thunder outscored them by 17 in the 7 minutes 40 seconds after Doncic got ejected. “You can see it that it happened. But I never got a fan ejected. Never. But if he’s gonna talk, I’m gonna talk back like always,” Doncic said. “So that had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn’t really understand.”Doncic received his first technical arguing for Jarred Vanderbilt when the Lakers’ reserve forward felt he was fouled. One possession after Doncic was thrown out after his second technical, Orr called Vanderbilt for a taunting technical foul after blocking Alex Caruso’s shot at the rim.“The game was just weird as hell after that moment,” LeBron James said.The Thunder blitzed the Lakers in the final six minutes, pulling away for what ended up looking like an easy win, the atmosphere clearly deflated from Los Angeles’ perspective.“I mean it’s a playoff game,” guard Austin Reaves said of the on-court energy. “I said the atmosphere was amazing. And everybody was competing. … And for the game to kind of get unraveled in that situation, it was unfortunate, like I said, but we have to be better as a group to control that from happening.”James finished with 28 points, Reaves had 24 and Doncic had 23. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 42 points, the Thunder turning the Lakers’ 19 turnovers into 29 points.Despite the turnovers, the Lakers managed the energy from the Thunder — a team the Lakers beat badly Sunday — in the first half of the rematch. They largely matched the Thunder shot for shot, with Doncic and Reaves leading the way, and in the third quarter, the Lakers’ defense took over, holding the Thunder to 17 points. But following Doncic’s ejection in the fourth, the Thunder made a push. Redick said after the game he was too slow to call time out to try to snuff out Oklahoma City’s momentum, and the game quickly slipped away.There’s no time for emotional hangovers. The Lakers play Doncic’s former team, the Mavericks, on Wednesday in Dallas, still needing to stack wins in order to guarantee themselves a top-three seed.“Of course, there’s gonna be a lot of emotion for me,” Doncic said. “I don’t really know what to expect. I don’t know how I’m gonna feel, honestly. I’m looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates — ex-teammates. It’s gonna be very emotional for me, for sure.”
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