Lakers get big test against Thunder to open final week of regular season
With a tenuous hold on third place in the tight Western Conference playoff race, they hit the road for three games, including two against Oklahoma City.
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This isn’t quite the Lakers’ final exams, but it’s still one heck of a test.
They begin the final week of their regular season Sunday in Oklahoma City, facing the NBA’s best team, owners of the third-best offense and, by far, the league’s best defense.
And then they do it again Tuesday.
“It’s a great test. They’re obviously a really good team with probably the front-runner for MVP right now," Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. "So, a team that plays hard every possession and guards at a very high level. And then on the other end, they play with space. Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] does what he does, but it’s a good test for us to match up with the No. 1 team in the West and see where we’re at right now and continue to try to prove that we’re a good team too.”
A scheduling quirk has the Lakers playing a pair of games on the road against the Thunder to kick off the final seven days of the regular season. It comes at a time when the Lakers are in a good position — third in the conference — but with little cushion.
Denver, Golden State, Memphis, Minnesota and the Clippers are within two games, and while the Lakers have tiebreak advantages over most, a tumble into the play-in round isn’t out of the question.
Read more:Luka Doncic rediscovers his scoring touch, leading Lakers to win over Pelicans
A winning week, 3-2, would guarantee the Lakers at least fifth place, while four wins would lock up home-court advantage for at least the first round. But the first win, one in Oklahoma City, is going to be toughest.
“'I’m glad that their team and their program, people are realizing how good that organization is and what they've built,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said Friday. “And I watch them a lot. They're really hard to score on. They have a number of high-level defenders.”
The Thunder’s defense is one of the few in the NBA with the personnel to match up with the Lakers’ stars, who are showing signs of finding rhythm with one another.
Luka Doncic bounced back from a rough game in a loss to the Warriors and a miserable first quarter Friday to get back in rhythm in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
LeBron James has now played eight games since missing two weeks because of a groin injury and his energy, efficiency and three-point stroke have been moving in the right direction.
Reaves is one of the hottest shooters in the league, having made 15 threes in his last two games, with James hyping him up in the locker room postgame Friday.
“LeBron throws me good passes, Luka throws me good passes and I just shoot it with confidence,” Reaves said. “That’s really it.”
The Lakers are catching the Thunder after a loss to the Rockets. It’s also the Thunder’s first chance to see Doncic on the Lakers after he and his previous team (Dallas, Wednesday’s opponent) knocked them out of last year’s playoffs.
“It was a very physical series. We were all very tired after that series, but it was fun. Definitely fun,” Doncic said. “OKC's a tough matchup. But those matchups are special. And like I said before, it's gonna be a big challenge for us. But also it's the games that, it's fun to play.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
