LOS ANGELES — The Oklahoma City Thunder used another explosive second half to beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 131-108 on Saturday, pushing the Lakers to the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs.

Ajay Mitchell scored 24 points and handed out 10 assists without a turnover to help the Thunder take a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

The Lakers will host Game 4 on Monday, when they'll try to become the first NBA team to rally from 3-0 down to win a playoff series.

"I'm not giving up on this series," defiant Lakers coach JJ Redick said. "We're going to try to win on Monday. We're going to try to extend the series and we're going to try to take this thing back to OKC."

The Cleveland Cavaliers, fueled by 35 points from Donovan Mitchell and clutch shooting from James Harden, avoided falling into a similar hole, grabbing a crucial 116-109 Game 3 victory over the Detroit Pistons to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

The Cavs, who dropped the first two games in Detroit, remained unbeaten at home in these playoffs.

But the Lakers, still without injured scoring champion Luka Doncic, couldn't conjure a crucial win as their series shifted to Los Angeles.

Rui Hachimura led the Lakers with 21 points and James added 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

But, the Thunder's depth was just too much for the depleted Lakers.

"That's the strength of their team," Redick said.

With reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander connecting on just seven of 20 shots from the floor, second-year guard Ajay Mitchell — starting in place of the injured Jalen Williams -stepped up.

"He's a gamer," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 23 points.

"It might be a shock to the world, but this is no shock to us."

Just like in game two, the Lakers took a two-point lead into halftime, this one largely on the strength of 11 first-half three-pointers.

But, again, the Thunder exploded in the third period, opening the second half on a 21-6 scoring run.

After that, it was all but over. The Lakers connected on just eight of 22 shots from the field in the third period, including just one from three-point range.

The turnovers began to mount for the Lakers, and the Thunder pushed its lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander said the Thunder, which swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round, will "absolutely" be aiming to finish off the Lakers on Monday.

"We would never want to waste an opportunity to win a basketball game," he said. "We've got to do the same thing we did in the first three games — be the aggressor, play the right way together."

Harden on target

In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell added 10 rebounds and four assists. Harden, a three-time NBA scoring champion, scored nine of his 19 points in a tight fourth quarter, drilling a trio of baskets that included a dagger trey that pushed Cleveland's lead to four with 25.9 seconds left.

"I love it," Harden said. "When your number's called, just getting to my spots. And it's something that I work on literally every day.

"Don (ovan) Mitchell had been working so extremely hard throughout the course of the game, (I was) just trying to find opportunities to help him. So that last minute-and-a-half, two minutes, however long it was, it presented itself. And for me, (it's about) just going out there and taking my shots."

Harden, who drew plenty of criticism for turnovers in the clutch in the first two games, kept the Cavaliers in front with big shots. The 17-year veteran hit a 16-foot step-back jumper to extend the lead to 108-104. After a driving dunk by Cade Cunningham, Harden made a floating seven-footer to put the lead back up to four.

"Chatter is going to be chatter, regardless," he said. "Whether you do something good, whether you do something bad, you give me opportunities in this fourth quarter, and I take advantage of them."

"It's the James Harden I've seen for however many years he's been in the NBA. That's the James we needed tonight," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We were searching, and we got some good screenings into the matchups we wanted and he went to work."

Cunningham responded with a 3-pointer before Harden provided the decisive blow with 25 seconds remaining on a step-back 3-pointer while being guarded by Harris to make it 113-109. Robinson was short on a 3-pointer after a timeout and Mitchell made three free throws down the stretch.

The Cavs withstood a 27-point triple-double from Cunningham, who added 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Cleveland led 64-48 at halftime and pushed the lead to 17 early in the third, before the Pistons clawed back.

Detroit managed to edge ahead with less than four minutes to play before Cleveland responded again.

The Cavs will try to level the series when they host Game 4 on Monday.