The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Los Angeles Lakers twice in the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Thunder won those two games by an average of 39.5 points per game.
But heading into Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series Tuesday in Oklahoma City, the Thunder aren’t looking past the Lakers.
“They’re playing really well right now regardless of who’s out there,” Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’re well-coached. LeBron (James) has been in this situation, in this level of games, more than anybody in the history of the NBA, so we don’t take them lightly.”
James averaged 23.2 points, 8.3 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in Los Angeles’ six-game series win over Houston in the first round.
Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were injured in the first of those two late-season losses to Oklahoma City, the Thunder’s 43-point victory on April 2.
Reaves returned for the final two games of the first-round series, while Doncic has yet to return from a hamstring injury. The Lakers ruled Doncic out Monday evening.
Oklahoma City swept the four regular-season meetings between the teams, with only one being decided by fewer than 29 points.
“They’re really good at runs, and part of that is how good their defense is, their ability to create turnovers, the live-ball turnovers really kill you,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “They don’t get out into transition a ton but when they do, they’re the best in the NBA.”
Redick said the Thunder’s success in that department could change the way he approaches calling timeouts.
“I’ve got to be more diligent than I normally am,” Redick said. “I like my timeouts. I like going into the fourth quarter with four timeouts, I like having two in the last 30 seconds. I don’t think you have the luxury of worrying about that because the game can get away from you so quick because of how explosive they are when they go on those runs. …
“It’s what they do, so mitigating the 12- to 15-point runs I think is really important.”
But while Redick said the challenge of facing the Thunder was much different than facing the Rockets, there was plenty that he felt could carry over, including “belief, attention to detail and poise.”
While the Lakers haven’t had much time off, wrapping up their series Friday with a win at Houston, Oklahoma City hasn’t played since finishing up a first-round sweep over Phoenix on April 27.
The Suns tried to turn up the tempo at times against the Thunder. Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said there were ups and downs to that, noting that his team needed to have more of a sense of urgency getting back defensively.
“But the other thing it does is it loosens the game up in a way that benefits us offensively,” Daigneault said. “There’s trade-offs to everything.”
The Thunder remain without Jalen Williams, who is continuing to rehab from a hamstring injury suffered in Game 2 of the series against the Suns.
The playoff series is the first between the teams since the second round of the 2012 playoffs.
–Field Level Media
