The Los Angeles Lakers will be heading back to Crypto.com Arena winless after falling 125-107 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Thursday.

Following up on his stellar Game 1 performance, Chet Holmgren scored 22 points on 7-11 shooting along with nine rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks while Shai Glgeous-Alexander bounced back after being mostly contained in Game 1 with 22 points of his won while shooting 7-13 from the field.

Austin Reaves finally arrived for the Lakers after a historically-bad shooting night in Game 1 with a game-leading 31 points, adding two rebounds and six assists while LeBron James continued to deliver with 22 points.

Rui Hachimura found his groove again as well, scoring 16 points on the back of an elite 4-7 performance shooting from three point range.

Despite the Lakers' offensive improvement, though, it wasn't enough to overcome the Thunder and when it comes to analyzing exactly why that's the case, the Lakers themselves would be quick to point toward the referees as the reason.

The Thunder have long been criticized this season for the way that games played against them, no matter what team was on the other side, have been called. Thursday night's game was no exception to that criticism, especially if you were wearing purple and gold. 

The Lakers racked up 26 fouls, which in turn sent the Thunder to the line for 26 free throw attempts, of which they made 21.

As the game went on, especially in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lakers grew increasingly irate at the officiating, not just with the fouls they committed, but the fouls they felt the Thunder weren't being called on.

By the end, head coach JJ Redick was pacing up and down the floor while LeBron James was getting in referee's faces trying to get explanations for calls.

Their arguments were to no avail, though, and as much as the Lakers managed to swing the momentum their way and fight through adversity, the Thunder kept taking the advantage.

As much as the Lakers were frustrated with officiating, though, the mistakes they completely made themselves were just as costly, especially their handling of the ball.

The Lakers committed 21 turnovers in the game and gave up 26 points off of turnovers. The first half was especially erratic with the Lakers falling over themselves and throwing passes away that gifted chance after chance to the Thunder to pad their lead at various points in the game.

Game 2 was definitely a peak of frustration for the Lakers, especially with them now falling behind 2-0, but one constant through this series so far has been the fight they've showed against the Thunder, somewhat limiting Oklahoma City's powers as they've cut down leads at times.

Their fight wasn't enough in Game 2, but with the series heading to Los Angeles, the Lakers could have an opportunity to put some wins on the board.