Solid play and favorable schedule
The Los Angeles Lakers are making the most out of a light schedule as one team should, and it is showing with their Western Conference-leading 11-2 record. They have only played one back-to-back this season and will once again take on a squad that will be on the back half of consecutive playing days.
Don’t get it wrong, though. The Lakers are in Lake Show mode with LeBron James and Anthony Davis powering the attack. They are inside the top three in scoring defense, defensive rating, assists, blocks, field goals made, and field goal shooting, so there’s no arguing about the high level of play they’ve produced.
The LeBron we’re seeing this season is also on a serious quest to reclaim his place as the best player in the world (if he indeed lost it, according to the majority). Along with the usual strong scoring and rebounding, he’s also averaging a career-best 11.2 assists per game and already has 10 games with double-digit dimes in just 13 outings. For comparison, it took him 41 games to that in 2018-19, 28 in 2017-18 and 2016-17, 71 in 2015-16 – we can go on, but the trend is pretty obvious.
Second night in LA
The Oklahoma City Thunder came up short of an upset against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, 90-88. It was their third defeat in four games and will now enter the second night of a back-to-back. With the loss, OKC is now 5-8 on the season.
The three Thunder starters that were on a Clipper homecoming, Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Danilo Gallinari, performed on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Paul did it on both ends, as he picked the opposition’s pockets four times and also scored 22 points to tie his season-high on the road this season. Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, was quiet with 11 points and zero assists, which both tied his season-lows this season. Gallinari joined Shai in the off-night list. Though he scored a serviceable 14 points, he missed 10 of his 13 shots from the field.
The trio and the whole Thunder squad are bound to run into another brick wall this Wednesday opposite the Lakers. We’ll see if Gilgeous-Alexander is just saving his energy, as he can deliver a big challenge to the Laker guards with his all-around playmaking abilites. He’s been huge for OKC thus far and has been maximizing the mentorship of Paul, his veteran co-point guard. SGA is pacing the team in scoring with 19.6 PPG.
The 34-year-old Paul (16.3 PPG, 5.4 APG) will remain as a key piece in the offense. He’s a master of the pick-and-roll game, so he and the OKC bigs going against LeBron and AD’s own pick-and-roll attack should be intriguing.
PREDICTION:
The upset-minded Thunder come close again but ultimately fall. The Lakers should take this courtesy of a strong performance from Anthony Davis.
