The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Lakers tonight after a tough loss against the Clippers last night. In the past, playing the Lakers and Clippers on back to back nights wasn’t that bad. Now its a completely different story. They are the two favorites to win the championship this season so playing the in a back to back is tough for even the elite teams in the NBA. Here the the 3 keys to the game for the Thunder in order for them to get a victory against one of LA’s elite.
1. PROTECT THE PAINT AND CONTINUE DEFENDING THE 3 POINT LINE
The Lakers currently rank 2nd in the NBA at points in the paint and it really could be considered a tie for first considering they are only .1 points behind first. The Thunder currently allow the 14th most points in the paint and the paint. They should try and pack the paint as much as they can and try to bait the Lakers into taking threes. They do need to be careful though. Although the Lakers are currently 24th in the NBA at making threes, the do have capable guys in Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavaious Caldwell-Pope, Lebron James, and Troy Daniels who can all get hot from three at any time. If the Thunder can find a way to protect the paint and at the same time continue to defend the 3 point line, they will find their way to a victory.
2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LEBRON JAMES BEING OFF THE COURT
This is the most important thing to do vs the Lakers. Lebron has been so important to them. When he’s off the court the Lakers offensive rating goes from 114.6 to 88.8 and the team turns the ball over more. I know it’s easier said than done to take advantage of Lebron being off the floor given most of the time he is off the floor, Anthony Davis is still on the court but the Lakers haven’t exactly figured out how to incorporate him into the offense yet so they’ve struggled a bit when it’s just him on the floor. The little time he’s off the floor could be key to getting a victory.
3. DON’T GET BLOWN OUT IN THE 3rd QUARTER
The Thunder have struggled big time in 3rd quarters this year. They’ve been outscored by 72 points in 3rd quarters so far while the Lakers have outscored teams by 45. It’s a bad mix for the Thunder. The Lakers are much better second half team than they are in the first half and they use their 3rd quarters to build comfortable leads. If they can’t figure out how to keep the 3rd quarter close it will definitely get ugly.
It won’t be an easy game. The Lakers are rolling right now and had yesterday off while the Thunder played a tough game against the Clippers. However, if they can follow these keys, they can definitely get a win.
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