- Los Angeles Lakers (11-8, 7th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (11-6, 4th in the West)
- When – Thursday, 30 November 2023 at 7:00pm CST
- Where – Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- Offensive Rating – LAL: 111.3 (24th) / OKC: 117.0 (8th)
- Defensive Rating – LAL: 111.7 (9th) / OKC: 109.4 (5th)
- Net Rating – LAL: -0.4 (19th) / OKC: 7.6 (3rd)
The Set-Up
Expectations. The curse of becoming good. The “rebuilding team” narrative that plagued OKC for the past three seasons is now being replaced by the complaining culture when a team isn’t winning every game that it plays. “Josh Giddey doesn’t fit with this team.” “Mark Daigneault doesn’t know how to coach in close games.” “Is Lu Dort an anchor on the offense when he isn’t hitting his 3-point shot?” Et cetera. Et cetera.
But this is the natural progression in the NBA. If you are building through the draft, the progression is usually a couple of seasons of bad basketball, which gives you the young players you need to build off of. Then you have a couple of seasons of figuring out how to win consistently in the regular season (This is where we’re currently at). Then you hopefully have a couple of seasons of playoff experience. Then, if you’re lucky, you become a contender. It’s a process. People look at the finished product that is the Denver Nuggets, but forget that Aaron Gordon is in his 10th season, Nikola Jokic is in his 9th, and Jamal Murray is in his 8th. It takes time and it takes patience.
Season Series: This is the first of four meetings between the Lakers and Thunder this season
Betting Info
- Line: OKC -5.5
- Spread: O/U 233.5
Injury Report
OKC
- None
LAL
- Rui Hachimura (nose) – OUT
- Jaxson Hayes (elbow) – Questionable
- Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) – OUT
- Gabe Vincent (knee) – OUT
Three Big Things
- Protect the paint – The Lakers are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league. They are dead last in 3-point attempts and 3-pointers made and are 28th in 3-point percentage. They get most of their points in the paint (49.4%, which is 2nd in the league). This will be a game where Chet Holmgren’s defense may have a huge impact in how the Thunder do.
- SGA – The lights normally shine brightest when the Lakers are playing and that’s when SGA shines. Even when the Thunder were rebuilding, the Thunder (and SGA) would usually have great games against the purple and gold.
- LeBron – We rarely get to see LeBron in OKC. Over the past few seasons, he’s either been hurt or he’s been “hurt” when the Lakers make their trip to OKC. I’m glad the Thunder are now relevant enough to the King to grace us his presence in OKC.