The Los Angeles Lakers triumphed in the first round, something few predicted before the Houston Rockets walked into Crypto.com Arena for Game 1.
But the Lakers passed the test with flying colors and now roll into round two hoping to maintain momentum.
The Los Angeles Lakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Houston Rockets clawed their way back into the game. Then the Lakers shut the door on what could have been an embarrassing piece of history.
GettyLeBron James reacts during a game in the first round.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are well-rested … and appear hungrier than ever. The doors of Paycom Center are wide open with the Thunder standing by the entrance ready to happily welcome the shorthanded Lakers.
L.A. is still waiting on a major step in the right direction concerning Luka Doncic. The 27-year-old Lakers star has been out for over a month.
But the Thunder won’t care.
Including the playoffs, Oklahoma City has won well north of 100 games over the last two seasons. And just to make sure the world was taking them seriously enough, they punched the Phoenix Suns and sent them home with a bloody nose after four games.
Oklahoma City was the only team to sweep its first round series.
With no Doncic in the lineup for the Lakers, the degree of difficulty in this series rises to the max.
Los Angeles Lakers Already Dismissed by Experts
Los Angeles exceeded expectations in the first round. Although the Rockets were without Kevin Durant, the Lakers were clearly the more ailing team. Forget Doncic, even Austin Reaves missed most of the series.
It left LeBron James to step up. And did he ever.
James continues to defy logic in every which way. In round one, the four-time MVP rattled off 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. Sustaining that production against the Thunder, who boast a cavalcade of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders, will be an enormous task.
To make things feel worse, the Lakers aren’t getting any love from experts.
ESPN asked 10 experts to predict the series score of this second round clash between the Lakers and Thunder. In a 10-0 final tally, the Thunder were unanimously picked to defeat the Lakers.
Ouch.
L.A. Facing Toughest Opponent of Any Team
Even without star swingman Jalen Williams, the Thunder dominated the Suns by forcing turnovers by virtue of their harassing defense.
For as physical the Thunder are, they impressively avoid picking up many defensive fouls. Having a slew of All-Defensive First Team candidates will do that for you.
Oklahoma City’s defense, the best in the Association, is anchored by Lu Dort and Cason Wallace — they are just two of many! — pestering on-ball defenders. Wallace, 22, will receive either All-Defensive First or Second Team honors in a few weeks. Dort was named to the first team last season and received enormous recognition for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Without Doncic in the mix for L.A., it begs the question: Where will the offense come from? Reaves is still working his way back from injury and James, well, is 41.
There are very few answers for the Thunder when they exert their swarming defense and lump that with their explosive transition scoring ability.
Game 1 is when the Lakers’ tough battle starts. Tip from Paycom Center is set for 7:30 p.m.
Lakers Given Harsh News Ahead of Game 1 vs Thunder