The Los Angeles Lakers saw their season come to an end in the second round of the playoffs, losing in four games to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. 

After knocking off the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round, the Lakers ran into a Thunder team that had their number all season. Without Luka Doncic, the Lakers didn't quite have the offensive firepower to hang with the Thunder, who were missing Jalen Williams. 

Three of the four games were double-digit victories for OKC, and while the fourth game was more competitive, the Lakers ran out of gas in the final moments, with OKC seizing the opportunity. 

On his Mind The Game podcast, LeBron gave his thoughts on why the Lakers lost to the Thunder. 

“We were not outworked. They didn’t out physical us. They didn’t outsmart us. I feel like we were just out talented by OKC. They just possess so much more talent," he said. 

The Thunder are often praised for how deep their rotation is as they are one of the rare teams that is able to play nine or ten guys deep in a playoff series, when most teams shorten their bench to seven or eight players. 

Without Doncic the Lakers shortened their bench to just Jaxson Hayes and Luke Kennard by the end of the series. Jarred Vanderbilt played six minutes in game one before suffering a finger injury, and didn't play again until game four, seeing the floor for just three minutes. 

Jake LaRavia played meaningful minutes in the first two games, but not the last two after failing to make an impact. 

The Lakers were competitive in the first half of the first three games before losing control in the second half. 

The talent gap showed up in the second half, thanks in part to the Lakers game plan. The team consistently doubled two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forcing the ball out of his hands and other players on the team to beat them. 

Playing 4-on-3, the Thunder executed the situation, whether they got to the rim or knocked down their open looks. 

Not being able to go as deep on the bench seemed to cause fatigue for the Lakers' players in the second half of games, which could explain why they couldn't keep up with the pace of OKC. 

A healthy Doncic could have changed the equation for the Lakers, but without their all-around offensive player, they simply didn't have enough.