Thunder @ Los Angeles Lakers preview (Game 61 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (42-18, 1st in the West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (33-29, 10th in the West)
  • When: Monday, 04 March 2024 at 9:30pm CST
  • Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
  • Offensive Rating – LAL: 114.7 (17th) / OKC: 119.3 (3rd)
  • Defensive Rating – LAL: 115.3 (17th) / OKC: 111.4 (4th)
  • Net Rating – LAL: -0.6 (19th) / OKC: 8.0 (2nd)

The Set-Up

Back at the top. While the Thunder have been battling for the top stop the entire season, they haven’t really done that great of a job of holding on to the title when they get it. Tonight presents another opportunity to hold on to 1st place in the Western Conference. But a loss tonight, coupled with a likely Minnesota victory (they play Portland), could knock OKC back to #2, sitting tied with Denver in the standings. Luckily, OKC owns the tiebreaker with Denver and would get the higher seeding.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between these two teams. The Thunder won the first meeting 133-110 in OKC in late November. The Lakers returned the favor a couple weeks later, again in OKC, winning 129-120. The Lakers then beat OKC in Los Angeles in January, 112-105.

Magic Numbers

  • To lock up the 10th seed (play-in guaranteed) – 12
  • To lock up the 6th seed (playoffs guaranteed) – 16

Betting Info

  • Line: OKC -1.5
  • O/U: 238.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Jaylin Williams (knee) – Day to Day

LAL

  • Colin Castleton (wrist) – OUT
  • Anthony Davis (achilles) – Probable
  • LeBron James (ankle) – Questionable
  • Cam Reddish (ankle) – Probable
  • Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) – OUT
  • Gabe Vincent (knee) – OUT
  • Christian Wood (knee) – OUT

Three Big Things

  1. Physicality – It’s funny because there are a lot of things that OKC and the Lakers do very similarly, despite the difference in their records. They are both poor rebounding teams who push the pace and shoot efficiently. Where they differ is in the amount of physicality the players are able to exert. LeBron James has game worn jerseys that are older than some of the players on the Thunder. Chet Holmgren was 10 years old when Anthony Davis started his career. It will be on the Thunder’s young core to either be quicker than the Lakers for the majority of the game or be purposefully more physical than the Lakers.
  2. Get in transition – The Lakers are the 5th worst team at stopping fast break points. The Thunder generate a lot of their offense in transition. It would benefit them to get fast break opportunities throughout the game and take advantage of them.
  3. Pack the paint – The Lakers are the worst team at generating points from the 3-point line. They score 55.1% of their points from 2-point territory (2nd in the league) and only 29.2% of their points from deep. The Thunder’s defensive scheme plays into this.

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