NBA playoffs: Lakers respect Thunder, insist they

The Lakers perceive the daunting problem they’re about to face against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.

Lakers coach JJ Redick referenced the great Chicago Bulls groups that received back-to-back championships in 1996 and ’97 and the Golden State Warriors groups that received titles in 2015 and ’17 when speaking about the Thunder after follow Sunday.

“The Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” Redick said. “It’s just the reality. They’re that good. I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”

The Thunder had the best file in the common season at 64-18. They had been ranked first in defensive field-goal proportion (43.7%), first in defensive score (106.5), first in web score (43.7) and second in factors given up per recreation (107.9).

They have the league’s reigning most precious participant in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is the main candidate to repeat as MVP. He was second in scoring this season (31.1 factors per recreation) and leads the postseason in scoring (33.8).

The Thunder just swept the Phoenix Suns in their first-round sequence. The Lakers eradicated the Houston Rockets in six video games.

This season the Thunder beat the Lakers by an average of 29.2 factors per recreation in sweeping the four-game set. So the Lakers are dealing with long odds to win this sequence, but they say they aren’t intimidated heading into Game 1 on Tuesday night time.

“You can respect the team but you can’t fear them,” ahead Jake LaRavia said. “You can’t come into the game fearing the opponent and then you’re just gonna come in and get punked. So, we respect how good this team is, but our goal is to win — win the games and win the series. So, our mindset stays the same.”

The Thunder have a fame as a stingy defensive staff — they had been called for the seventh-fewest fouls per recreation (19) this season.

“They’re top five in every category that’s disruptive-base: steals, blocks, turnovers forced, all that stuff. And they don’t foul,” Redick said. “They somehow do all of that without fouling, which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is legendary for drawing fouls. He took 9 free throws per recreation this season, third-most in the league.

“Nobody’s been able to stop him all season,” Redick said. “So, you can hope and pray.”

The Lakers had their own weapon at the free-throw line, but it’s unclear when Luka Doncic would possibly return from injury. The All-Star level guard hasn’t performed since sustaining a Grade 2 left hamstring pressure against the Thunder on April 2.

Doncic was coming off a magical month, changing into the only participant in historical past other than Michael Jordan to rating 600 factors in March.

Redick had no update on Doncic’s standing — he stays out indefinitely.

But the Lakers received by the Rockets with LeBron James main the way in which. He averaged 23.2 factors, 8.3 assists and 7.2 rebounds in the six video games. And star guard Austin Reaves, who also was injured in the April 2 recreation against the Thunder, returned to help beat the Rockets.

Still, few assume the Lakers, who superior past the first spherical for the first time since 2023, can get by the deep and gifted Thunder.

“You could say nobody thought we were going to get past Houston, but everybody in this building believed,” Reaves said. “It’s the same mindset going into this. We obviously know the team that we’re about to face and how good they are and the problems that they can create for 48 minutes. So, we’ll have to lock in every single day, film, whatever it could be, to continue to get better and and pay attention to all the little details like they do.”