The season came to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday as they were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the NBA playoffs. 

The Lakers entered the playoffs as the four seed after a successful regular season where they won 53 games, three games more than last season. 

They also entered the playoffs without their star player Luka Doncic, who suffered a hamstring injury on April 2 that was going to sideline him for at least eight weeks, putting him out until the Western Conference Finals at the earlier, should the Lakers have made it that far. 

Without Doncic, and Austin Reaves for the first ten days of the postseason, the Lakers still managed to defeat the Houston Rockets in six games before running into the defending NBA Champions. 

Aside from the obvious of not having an all-world offensive player, the Lakers had other issues against the Thunder that showed up in a big way during the four game series. 

For Lakers head coach JJ Redick, it came down to something pretty simple. 

"(Luka is) a guy that can dribble, pass and shoot. I think because of injuries there were times that we didn't have enough of that. We gotta be better being able to dribble, pass and shoot. I know that sounds simple but that's just the reality," he said. 

LeBron James and Reaves carried much of the Lakers offense in the second round, though Reaves struggled at times during the series. Marcus Smart provided secondary playmaking and shooting throughout the regular season, but he had a series to forget against the Thunder. 

Rui Hachimura couldn't miss from three throughout the playoffs, but the limitations in his creation showed up against the Thunder, and Luke Kennard's playmaking and shooting that was on display following Luka's injury in the regular season was nonexistent against OKC. 

While every team could use more shooting, passing, and dribbling, all three of those problems are solved with a healthy Luka Doncic. 

Los Angeles struggled on the defensive end of the floor, failing to get timely stops throughout the series, allowing the Thunder go on big runs even when MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench. 

Deandre Ayton also struggled all series on both ends of the floor, getting outplayed by the OKC duo of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, and ultimately benched in favor of Jaxson Hayes by the end of game four. 

The Lakers offseason will revolve around the decision of LeBron James and whether he will be returning for his 24th season. After that, they'll look to retool around a hopefully healthy Doncic.