Tag Archives: Luka Doncic

Thunder @ Los Angeles Lakers preview (Game 79 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (62-16, 1st in the West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (50-28, 4th in the West)
  • When: Tuesday, 07 April 2026 at 9:30pm CST
  • Where: Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: LAL: 117.1 (9th) / OKC: 117.6 (7th)
  • Defensive Rating: LAL: 116.0 (20th) / OKC: 106.0 (1st)
  • Net Rating: LAL: 1.2 (16th) / OKC: 11.6 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: LAL: Losers of 2 straight, but had won 13 of their previous 14 games / OKC: Winners of 5 straight
  • Magic Number (to clinch the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs): 2

The Tip-Off

In my honest opinion, this is the most dangerous time in the season for a contending team. The thin line between resting players and keeping them sharp by playing in sometimes meaningless games leads to the possibility of fatigue and, worst of all, injuries. The Lakers experienced that twice in one game, with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves being knocked of the Thunder game (and the rest of the regular season and likely part or all of the postseason) with soft-tissue injuries. San Antonio saw Victor Wembanyama go down in their last game with a rib injury. Regardless of the severity of the injury, rib injuries have a tendency to creep back up, especially with the increased physicality of playoff games. This is why wrapping up your playoff positioning as early as possible is so important.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the Thunder and Lakers. The Thunder have won the first three meetings this season by an average of 27 points.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -18.5
  • O/U: 220.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring injury management)

LAL

  • Luka Doncic – OUT (hamstring)
  • LeBron James – OUT (foot)
  • Austin Reaves – OUT (oblique)
  • Marcus Smart – OUT (ankle)

Three Big Things

  1. Take Care of Business – With a magic number of 2, the Thunder could go ahead and wrap up home-court advantage for the playoffs by the end of the day on Wednesday. But the games still need to be played and the Thunder face a Lakers team that is very depleted, but very desperate. The Lakers will likely come out like a wounded animal, looking to not only seek some revenge on the Thunder, but also regain their grip on the 3rd seed in the West. The Thunder will need to come out early, play their game, and not give LA any form of hope.
  2. Depth – The Thunder have it. The Lakers currently do not. This is where the game can go from a deficit to a blow-out for the Lakers. Los Angeles will have to contend with one of the best starting line-ups in the league, and then will have to match that against one of the best/deepest benches in the league.
  3. Attack the Paint – The key to the blowout victory on April 2nd wasn’t the three-pointers or the injuries to Reaves and Doncic. It was OKC’s ability to get into the paint and then cause havoc once there by either scoring or spraying the ball out to open shooters. The Thunder scored 64 points in the paint. Their season average for points in the paint is 49.5 (good for 17th in the league). With the lack of rim protection and with Marcus Smart still being out, this may be another paint-touch mastery class in the making.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Thunder preview (Game 77 of 82)

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  • Los Angeles Lakers (50-26, 3rd in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16, 1st in the West)
  • When: Thursday, 02 April 2026 at 8:30pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: Prime Video
  • Offensive Rating: LAL: 117.4 (7th) / OKC: 117.1 (8th)
  • Defensive Rating: LAL: 115.5 (20th) / OKC: 106.3 (1st)
  • Net Rating: LAL: 1.9 (14th) / OKC: 10.9 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: LAL: Winners of 4 in a row and 13 of their last 14 games / OKC: Winners of 3 in a row and 15 of their last 16
  • Magic Number (to clinch the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs): 5

The Tip-Off

The cream is really rising to the top here in the Western Conference. The top four teams are all currently riding the following 10-game runs: OKC: 9-1, SA: 10-0, LAL: 9-1, and DEN: 8-2. In addition, OKC, LA, and DEN are all at the healthiest they’ve been all season. Hopefully this run of health continues, as the West playoffs are going to be historic if everyone plays at full strength.

This is the 3rd of 4 meetings this season between the Thunder and Lakers. OKC blew the Lakers out in their first meeting in Los Angeles, 121-92, in a game that saw Cason Wallace completely dominate defensively and saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander go for 30 points and 9 assists. Their second meeting was a more tightly contested game that OKC won 119-110. OKC was without SGA in that game (and LA was without Luka Doncic) and seven players scored in double digits, led by Jalen Williams with 23 points.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -9
  • O/U: 231.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Alex Caruso – Questionable (illness)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)

LAL

  • Marcus Smart – OUT (ankle)

Three Big Things

  1. Defend, While Not Fouling – Interesting find when looking at stats: Los Angeles DOESN’T lead the league in free throw attempts. That honor belongs to (wait for it…) the Orlando Magic (????). The Lakers are that team that features three offensive engines in Luka, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves that each kind of play the same way where if a play is breaking down, they can drive to the basket and create contact to initiate a foul call or two….or twenty. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the idea that this overtly benefits them because the Thunder have a player or two that play the same way. With that said, it’s my hope that the officials tonight call the game evenly and don’t subscribe to any “agenda-based” narratives.
  2. Attack The Paint – The Lakers aren’t necessarily known for their stellar interior defense. They are 20th in the league in Opponent Points in the Paint, allowing 51.7 points per game and 22nd in blocks, at only 4.3 per game. SGA, Dub, and Ajay Mitchell should be hunting the favorable match-ups on the perimeter, especially with Marcus Smart being out, and getting automatic paint touches throughout the game. Isaiah Joe has had a big impact in the previous two Lakers games and that should be a recurring theme in this game, if those paint touches yield open threes.
  3. MVP Matchup – While Doncic has seemingly fallen out of the race for the MVP, there is still going to be a very loud minority that yells for him to be MVP. And in most seasons, they would have a case. But this year, with SGA’s consistent excellence throughout the year and Victor Wembanyama’s emergence, Luka’s defensive struggles early in the season have pushed him behind the pace car. But that doesn’t mean that tonight’s game won’t be a fun matchup. Luka vs. the Thunder’s perimeter defender is always a chess match. And SGA looking to solidify his hold on the MVP after Wemby had another amazing night last night. In recent years, the schedule for April has rarely yielded any games of consequence. But this year, every game has been important, not just for seeding purposes, but also for MVP debate purposes.

Thunder @ Chicago Bulls preview (Game 63 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (47-15, 1st in the West) @ Chicago Bulls (25-36, 12th in the East)
  • When: Tuesday, 03 March 2026 at 7:00pm CST
  • Where: United Center in Chicago, IL
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: CHI: 112.6 (24th) / OKC: 117.2 (6th)
  • Defensive Rating: CHI: 117.0 (25th) / OKC: 106.1 (1st)
  • Net Rating: CHI: -4.4 (24th) / OKC: 11.1 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: CHI: Winner of 1, loser of 11 straight prior to that / OKC: Winners of 2 straight, 5-1 since the All-Star break

The Tip-Off

Funny how you get an MVP back in the line-up and all the struggles from the previous 3 weeks are forgotten. When healthy, the Thunder are still the team to beat in the NBA. While this season has been mired by the “potholes in the road” by injuries, they are still arguably the best team in the NBA, by a significant margin. Friday night showed that. Denver gave it their best shot with Nikola Jokic having a monster triple-double and Jamal Murray pitching in 39 points. And yet, even with a chance to win it in overtime with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting, the Nuggets looked like they were the team that was suffering from the altitude in OKC. SGA’s time off the floor may have unlocked different aspects of the team that could yield positive returns come playoff time. Isaiah Joe, Jared McCain, and Cason Wallace each were significant contributors to the Thunder beating the Nuggets in OT.

This is the first of two meetings this season between the Thunder and Bulls. OKC has now won 6 straight games against Chicago, dating back to the 2022-23 season, with an average margin of victory of 16.5 points.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -10.5
  • O/U: 229.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Branden Carlson – OUT (back)
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – OUT (abdominal strain / injury management)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf strain / injury management)
  • Ajay Mitchell – OUT (abdominal strain / ankle)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring)

CHI

  • Zach Collins – OFS (toe)
  • Noa Essengue – OFS (shoulder)
  • Jaden Ivey – OUT (knee)
  • Anfernee Simons – OUT (wrist)
  • Jalen Smith – OUT (calf)
  • Patrick Williams – OUT (quad)

Three Big Things

  1. Defending a Hodge-podge – The Bulls currently are just a cobbled up gaggle of undersized point guards, Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and non-center centers. The unusualness of their current line-ups is where they can trip opponents up. The Thunder are made to defend the line-ups of today’s basketball. But if there is no Jokic, Doncic, or Ant Edwards to hyperfocus on, this team’s defense can sometimes be left scrambling, especially against guard heavy line-ups (see Charlotte and Utah).
  2. Josh Giddey revenge game? – We just saw Ousmane Dieng have one of the best games of his career in his return to OKC right before the All-Star break. There were, of course, plenty of variables at play that could have contributed to such a performance, such as not having any play-makers available and the team having a “1-2-3 Cancun!” mentality after a roller-coaster first half of the season. But coming into tonight, there are similar variables at play: No play-makers available to them and the team possibly looking forward to the game on Wednesday in New York. There is trap game potential in this game and it could be spearheaded by Giddey.
  3. Cason Wallace – With SGA, Mitchell, and Dub being out for tonight, the team will likely look to Cason to be their de-facto play-maker. And he’s been great since the All-Star break, averaging 6.5 assists per game, while boasting a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio. In that same span, he’s also averaging 15.3 points on 45/50/90 shooting splits.

Sacramento Kings vs. Thunder preview (Game 5 of 82)

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  • Sacramento Kings (1-2) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (4-0)
  • When: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 at 7:00pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: SAC: 111.8 (20th) / OKC: 113.6 (18th)
  • Defensive Rating: SAC: 114.0 (14th) / OKC: 104.4 (1st)
  • Net Rating: SAC: -2.2 (18th) / OKC: 9.2 (4th)

The Set-Up

It’s kind of crazy being a fan of a team who’s extremely proficient up and down the organization. From ownership to the front office to the coaching staff to the players (and this includes their G-League team), the Oklahoma City Thunder are as efficient as they effective. It’s always been one of their key tenants in building a team culture that targets purposeful action. Things that you see in other successful organizations: the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat, the Pittsburgh Steelers, etc. Organizations that from the top on down have an expectation and a plan to execute those expectations.

Annnnnnd then, there’s the Sacramento Kings. A team whose two decade-long status as a middling team has given rise to a nickname that acts as the alter ego to their wishes of a well run organization: the Kangz. The Kings of the early 2000’s that featured Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, and Doug Christie were the darlings of the NBA. Unfortunately, they ran into the beginning run of the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and were never able to scale that mountain. From there, it’s been flub after flub that has kept the team at or near the middle and away from the talent of the early lottery. When they’ve had the opportunity to draft high in the lottery, they’ve completely blown it (namely, 2018 when they drafted Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic). When they’ve gotten good young talent (De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis), they haven’t been able to build a team around them and sustain any type of success. Now, they are just trying their best to stay above water which will net them another middle of the pack season where they will be in the high lottery. Thank the basketball gods that I reside in Oklahoma.

This is the first of three meetings this season between the Kings and Thunder. The Thunder swept the season series last year, winning by an average of 23.7 points and have won five in a row against the Kings.

Betting Info presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -10.5
  • O/U: 227.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Chet Holmgren – OUT (back soreness)
  • Isaiah Joe – OUT (knee)
  • Thomas Sorber – OUT (knee – ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (testicular procedure)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (wrist)
  • Kenrich Williams – OUT (knee)

SAC

  • Nique Clifford – OUT (hamstring)
  • Keegan Murray – OUT (thumb)

Three Big Things

  1. Strengths vs. Weaknesses – The Sacramento Kings are defensively weak on the interior. They allow 56 points per game in the paint (24th), 22.3 points off turnovers (28th), 18.3 second chance points (24th), and are last in the league in rebounds grabbed. Conversely, the Thunder score 54.5 points in the paint (10th), 22.3 points off turnovers (5th), and are 4th in the league in rebounds, which opens up the opportunity for 2nd chance points.
  2. Two-big Lineup – One of the biggest storylines heading into this season was whether the Thunder would continue to lean into the 2-big lineup or start to move away from it. Four games in, the Thunder have started the 2-big lineup in all the games and each of the big men is averaging a double/double. Last season, in 316 minutes played, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein had an offensive rating of 122.9, a defensive rating of 109.4, and a net rating of 13.5. This season, the offensive rating is 123.1, the defensive rating is 104.3, and the net rating is 18.8. In 2-man lineups that have played at least 80 minutes (20 minutes/game), the 2-big line-up is second behind the SGA/Cason Wallace 2-man lineup. In short, the two-big lineup is working much better so far this season.
  3. Russell Westbrook – There may not be too many more opportunities to see the King of the Prairie in his original field of play. Russell Westbrook was who OKC needed when they needed a hero the most. We all know what Russ means to the franchise. He’ll be the second number in the rafters and the first statue outside the arena. He’ll likely have a street in the city named after him. But we all saw how uneasy it was waiting for Westbrook to sign with the Kings a week before the season started. We don’t know when the end will come, but we all know the end is near. So appreciate any opportunity to cheer Westbrook on. On this team, he is no longer a threat like he was with the Denver Nuggets. Do what we do and give the man a raucous applause when he enters the game…because we don’t know how many more times we have to do this.

Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Series Preview – NBA Finals

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Schedule

  • Game 1 – June 5th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • Game 2 – June 8th, 2025 @ 7:00pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • Game 3 – June 11th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
  • Game 4 – June 13th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
  • *Game 5 – June 16th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • *Game 6 – June 19th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
  • *Game 7 – June 22nd, 2025 @ 7:00pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK* – * * – If necessary

Quick Stats (Playoffs)

  • Offensive Rating – IND: 117.7 (2nd) / OKC: 115.9 (3rd)
  • Defensive Rating – IND: 113.6 (9th) / OKC: 104.7 (1st)
  • Net Rating – IND: 4.1 (4th) / OKC: 11.2 (2nd)

The Set-Up

Let’s be honest: if you marked this Finals match-up down in October 2024, then your phone number probably either starts with a 405 area code or a 317 area code. I’m sure a lot of people will tell you that an NBA Finals without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic, or Steph Curry will be bad for the league. I’m sure they’ll wax poetic about superteams and dynasties of yore. They may even try to convince that these Finals will be the least watched finals ever. But don’t listen to them.

Every crop of superstars has to eventually meet it’s end. That LeBron and Curry have pushed their reigns out so far has been nothing short of impressive. Kudos to them for showing a new crop of stars how to take care of their bodies and push the bounds of longevity. But one era has to finish for another one to begin. And that is what these Finals may be representing. One, not necessarily built by superteams, but by team depth. One, not necessarily focused on the heliocentricity of one player, but on the ability to have five players on the court be 5-tool players. One, where the most important guy in the organization may not be the league MVP, but the league’s Executive of the Year.

Teams are being built differently now, and this may be the first view of how the NBA will look like under the new CBA. And there will be moans and groans about how great things were in the past. But, yet, somehow, someway, the league continues to grow. The social media hits continue to climb. The game crosses more and more boundaries as it continues to battle futbol (no, not football) as a truly global game. Soccer remains king throughout the world, but basketball continues to lie in wait as the prince that was promised. As the NBA landscape changes, these two teams, the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, are the teams that will usher basketball into this new era. You may be watching the next great dynasty unfold before your eyes.

Regular Season Series

Game 1 – Dec. 26th, 2024 – Thunder win 120-114 in Indianapolis, IN – SGA scores a then career-high 45 points as Lu Dort and the Thunder defense holds Tyrese Haliburton to 4 points on 6 FG attempts. Isaiah Hartenstein pitched in with an 11 point, 13 rebound double-double and Jalen Williams added in 20 points.

Game 2 – Mar. 29th, 2024 – Thunder win 132-111 in Oklahoma City, OK – OKC outscores the Pacers by 20 points combined in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and uses that cushion to cruise to victory. SGA scores 33 points and get big time contributions from Luguentz Dort (22 points on 6/7 shooting from deep) and Isaiah Joe (19 points on 5/7 shooting from deep).

Three Big Things

1. Twins? – These two teams are definitely not identical twins. But they could be classified as fraternal twins with how similar they are. Here are just a few stats that show how similar these two teams are: After January 1st, 2025, the Pacers (33) and Thunder (41) had the most wins in the league during that time. They both have a 12-4 record in the playoffs heading into the Finals. They are No. 2 and 3 in points per game in the playoffs, being separated by only 0.3 of a point. They are No. 1 and 2 in pace in the playoffs. They are 1 and 2 in points off turnovers. They are No. 1 and 3 in fastbreak points. They both get back on defense, being No. 1 and 2 on both Opponent Points off Turnovers and Opponent Fastbreak Points. It’s scary how similar these teams are, statistically.

2. SGA – The biggest difference is that one team boasts the league MVP and the other doesn’t. SGA has been playing some of his best basketball these last few weeks. While he may have started off slow in the first few games of the playoffs, he has picked it up when it has mattered most, scoring 30 or more points in 11 of his last 14 games. Teams have used various schemes to try to stop SGA, but it has been all for naught. In the two regular season games this season, SGA has averaged 39 against Indiana.

3. Living in the Corner – Indiana’s offense in these playoffs has not just been predicated on Haliburton’s floor generalship, but also on the shooters making corner 3’s. Indiana has shot an amazing 46.9% on 9.2 attempts these playoffs. That is up from 40.6% during the regular season. A 16-game sample size is big enough to assume that it can continue for the Pacers in the finals. But if they revert back to their regular season norms, the Pacers could be in trouble.

Thunder @ Dallas Mavericks preview (Game 19 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (12-6, 3rd in the West) @ Dallas Mavericks (11-7, 4th in the West)
  • When – Saturday, 02 December 2023 at 8:00pm CST
  • Where – American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
  • Offensive Rating – DAL: 117.5 (5th) / OKC: 117.6 (4th)
  • Defensive Rating – DAL: 117.0 (23rd) / OKC: 109.1 (5th)
  • Net Rating – DAL: 0.5 (17th) / OKC: 8.5 (2nd)

The Set-Up

The I-35 rivalry. The rivalry that is created because of location. Because of distance. But, luckily, for us fans, this rivalry has usually been a good one. The KD game-winner in the playoffs. Dirk completely decimating the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals on his way to his only championship. The various playoff match-ups. The Lu Dort defense on Luka. The Isaiah Joe game.

Luckily for all of us, there appears to be another rivalry budding with this current iteration. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have given the Mavs two superstar players that have performed at the top of their profession in every scenario possible in their careers. Luka finally has a collection of players around him that seem to complement his style of play. But Lu Dort awaits….

And Isaiah Joe.

Season Series: This is the first of four meetings between the Mavericks and Thunder this season

Betting Info

  • Line: OKC -4.5
  • Spread: O/U 235.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • None

DAL

  • Dante Exum (personal) – OUT
  • Josh Green (elbow) – Day to Day
  • Tim Hardaway Jr (back) – Day to Day
  • Kyrie Irving (foot) – Day to Day
  • Maxi Kleber (toe) – OUT

Three Big Things

  1. Luka Doncic – Luka is having another amazing season. Of the 5 players in the league that are averaging over 30 points per game, Luka and SGA are two of them. In games past, though, Luka has struggled with efficiency when playing against the Thunder. A lot of that can be attributed to Lu Dort’s defense. Doncic’s physical style suits Dort’s defense more than a fast, twitchy offensive player.
  2. Rebounding Battle – Neither of these two teams are good at rebounding, with both being at or near the bottom of most rebounding categories. But the Thunder has shown improvement and effort in the rebounding department over the past week or so. It has allowed them to blow some teams out that were also near the bottom of those statistics with them.
  3. Chet – For some reason, I feel like this is a game where Chet can dominate. Not just in the scoring department, but also in all the things big men are supposed to do well (rebounding, interior defense, etc). The Mavs will be trotting out rookie Derrick Lively and Dwight Powell. Lively has been a lot better than I expected this season. And Powell is a good, aging veteran. It just feels like Chet will dominate over these two tonight.