Chet Holmgren scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 108-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell each added 18 points for the Thunder, who improved to 5-0 in the playoffs as the defending champions. Oklahoma City shot 49.4% from the field and connected on 13 of 30 three-point attempts while holding the Lakers to 41.7% shooting and forcing 17 turnovers.

The Thunder won all four regular-season meetings against Los Angeles by an average margin of 29.3 points, and this playoff matchup followed a similar script despite being somewhat closer. Oklahoma City entered the game with a 64-18 regular-season record and home-court advantage as the top Western Conference seed, while the Lakers finished 53-29 as the No. 4 seed.

Los Angeles jumped out to a 7-0 lead early, powered by five points from LeBron James, who finished with a game-high 27 points. The Thunder responded to take a 31-26 advantage after the first quarter. Holmgren's two-handed alley-oop dunk off a lob from Isaiah Hartenstein midway through the second quarter pushed the lead to 48-39, but Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt injured the pinkie on his right hand on the play and did not return.

Oklahoma City led 61-53 at halftime despite James' 16 points in the first half. Mitchell, starting in place of injured All-Star Jalen Williams, drained a corner three-pointer and drew a foul from Marcus Smart late in the third quarter. His subsequent free throw extended the Thunder's lead to 84-72 entering the fourth.

Alex Caruso provided a highlight with a fast-break dunk that made it 88-73 early in the final period, but the Thunder maintained control the rest of the way with a 24-18 fourth-quarter edge. Rui Hachimura scored 18 points for Los Angeles, while Austin Reaves struggled with eight points on 3-for-16 shooting.

The Lakers played without scoring champion Luka Doncic, sidelined for the past month by a left hamstring injury. The Thunder also missed Williams for the third straight game due to a left hamstring issue.

Game 2 is set for Thursday night in Oklahoma City.