Jan. 14—The Thunder dropped its second game of the back-to-back, this time to the defending champs.

Here are five takeaways from the Thunder’s 128-99 loss to the Lakers on Wednesday night.

Bazley draws tough assignment

The Lakers have a significant size advantage over the Thunder, and that was even more evident Wednesday night without Thunder center Al Horford (rest) in the lineup.

Isaiah Roby started at center and defended Marc Gasol. That left Darius Bazley with the Anthony Davis assignment.

Bazley is 6-foot-8 and 208 pounds. Davis is 6-foot-10 and 253 pounds.

The outcome was predictable. Davis dominated.

Davis shot 5-of-8 in the first quarter with 12 points and four rebounds. Davis finished 8-of-13 with 18 points and seven rebounds in just 25 minutes.

Backup center Montrezl Harrel scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Bazley sprained his right ankle in the loss. The Thunder ruled out his return in the fourth quarter.

“The severity of it remains to be seen,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the game.

Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Schroder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder and Chris Paul formed one of the most lethal backcourts in the NBA last season.

On Wednesday night Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder matched up against each other.

Schroder’s fit with the Lakers has been smooth, but he struggled against his former team. He shot 4-of-12 for 14 points.

Schroder is a full-time starter for the Lakers after coming off the Thunder’s bench for the last two seasons.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

Roby was the Thunder’s second-leading scorer with 11 points.

Defending LeBron

Luguentz Dort normally outmuscles and outhustles whomever he’s tasked with guarding, but normal rules don’t apply to LeBron James.

James is six inches taller than Dort, and his combination of speed and power won out as usual. Even as Dort stopped some of James’ drives in the second half, James was more than content settling for 3-pointers. He shot 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

Kenrich Williams also saw significant time against James, and Williams held his own against the Lakers superstar.

Thunder rookie Aleksej Pokusevski even got a brief look at defending James.

James finished with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Blowout trend

The Lakers led 56-32 with four minutes left in the second quarter, and it looked like the game was wrapped up.

Then the Thunder ended the first half on a 14-2 run to cut the Lakers lead to 12 points.

“Every minute in the game is an opportunity to compete and an opportunity to continue to forge an identity as a team,” Daigneault said. “I thought that group that closed the half did a really good job. Got us back in the game, got us within striking distance.”

Los Angeles shut down any thoughts of an OKC comeback by winning the third quarter 35-25.

The Thunder (5-6) has outperformed early expectations, but the underlying numbers should calm down anyone who thinks this team is too good for a rebuilding season.

OKC ranked 25th in net rating entering Wednesday.

Five of the Thunder’s six losses have been by double digits, and OKC has been blown out by at least 28 points three times.

Late-game notes

James took off his sneakers and wrapped his feet in towels midway through the fourth quarter. The Lakers were well on their way to a win.

Daigneault emptied his bench in garbage time with rookies Theo Maledon, Aleksej Pokusevski and Josh Hall sharing the floor with Justin Jackson and Moses Brown.

Pokusevski scored a careerhigh 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He recorded three blocks.

“Poku I thought was good tonight,” Daigneault said. “These are all touch points for him. Every minute out there he’s learning and figuring things out.”