The Oklahoma City Thunder remain the only NBA team in the second round of the 2026 playoffs as of Wednesday afternoon.
Soon, that will change. It could happen as early as Wednesday night, and the Thunder just might find out their opponent, depending on whether the Los Angeles Lakers close out against the Houston Rockets or not.
With Game 5 of the Lakers-Rockets series approaching, the Thunder are preparing for an LA team that is getting healthier. When the Lakers played their first four games of the playoffs, they didn’t have Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves.
The latter player could return as early as April 29. As for Doncic, his recovery is going to take even more time. The Thunder seem to be on pace to face a Luka-less Lakers team if and when they fire up the Western Conference Semifinal round.
The Latest On Luka Doncic
Shams Charania of ESPN dished the latest on Luka on Wednesday:
“He’s been out since the beginning of the month with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. I’m told there is a slow path on his recovery. If the Lakers do advance in this series and play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round, the expectation is that Luka Doncic will be out to start that series. There’s still no clarity on a timeline. He started to ramp up a little bit more on the court. He still isn’t progressing to full scrimmages and workouts yet.”
It’s clear the Lakers can be an offensive juggernaut when Doncic is on the floor. After all, he was crowned the NBA’s scoring champion this season.
The availability of Doncic should make a big difference for the Thunder, but they are likely going to feel comfortable either way.
This season, the Thunder completed a sweep over the Lakers. Four games–four wins.
Two of those matchups included Doncic. The November 12 outing included a 19-point, seven-assist showing from Doncic. The April 2 game included 12 points and seven assists from the star guard. In that same game, Doncic suffered his current setback.
While the Lakers have shown defensive improvements throughout the first round, they could certainly use the star scorer back in the mix for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. But first, LA has to get through Houston on Wednesday.