The Lakers and the Sonics/Thunder have plenty of history between them in the playoffs throughout the decades. LA has had memorable battles in both Seattle and Oklahoma City with title-winning teams picking up wins en route to the Finals.
Let’s look back before moving forward and take a Dip in the Lake with the Sonics/Thunder playoff history.
1978 Playoffs – First Round
In this best -of-3 series, it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adrian Dantley and Norm Nixon against Dennis Johnson, Jack Sikma and Gus Williams.
Game 1 was a loss for
the Lakers with Don Ford starting, so a change was made for Game 2 with Jamaal Wilkes replacing him. Game 2 tied the series and in Game 3, Kareem scored 31 points, but it was not enough.
The Sonics would go on to the Finals, losing to the Washington Bullets, led by Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, in seven games.
1979 Playoffs – Second Round
In this next matchup, Johnson was a thorn in the Lakers’ side, which would continue later on in his career in Boston.
Games 1 and 2 were pretty similar to last year’s matchup, with the Sonics winning both. The Lakers grabbed Game 3, and in Games 4 and 5, it was the Sonics defense and balanced approach that was too much as the Sonics won the series 4-1 and went on to win the title over the Bullets in a rematch.
1980 Playoffs – Conference Finals
With the arrival of Magic Johnson and the Showtime era, there was a change. Game 1 went down to the wire with the Sonics winning by one after a late Jack Sikma free throw.
In the next four games, the Lakers would handle things and gentleman sweep the Sonics on the way to a title against the 76ers, including the memorable Game 6 with Magic playing center.
1987 Playoffs – Conference Finals
Still firmly in the Showtime Era, the Lakers saw James Worthy dominate the series by averaging 30.5 points per game. The Lakers would go on to sweep the Sonics before eventually beating the Celtics in six games to win another title.
1989 Playoffs – Second Round
As the two-time defending champions, the 1989 semifinals would create a unique challenge with the decline of Kareem. Up to this point in the playoffs, Kareem would play less than 30 minutes per game with Magic and Worthy taking up more prominent roles.
Sound familiar?
It became a balancing act of ensuring Kareem was ready for the latter part of the playoffs. This series would be a sweep once again as the Lakers would eventually face the Bad Boy Pistons at the peak of their powers, who ended any chance of the Lakers getting more rings in the ‘80s.
1995 Playoffs – First Round
In Del Harris’ first season as head coach, he had former Sonic Sedale Threat in tow with a brand new young core of Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Cedric Ceballos and Vlade Divac. But it would be a challenge out of the gate.
Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp would be the main duo for Seattle in the ‘90s. Game 1 did not go according to plan, but the remaining three games went the Lakers’ way.
1998 Playoffs – Conference Semifinals
With the departure of Kemp to the Cavs, there would be no Shaq and Kobe Bryant against Kemp and Payton matchup.
The Sonics won the first game of the series, but that was a flash in the pan as the Lakers took the next four games despite Kobe being limited throughout the series.
2010 Playoffs – First Round
This was the era of the young Thunder in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and they would turn out to be one of the hardest matchups in the later years of Kobe’s career.
In the first few games, the Lakers couldn’t stop Durant. The two teams split the first four games. Games 5 and 6 would be different as the Lakers blocked off the middle with their twin towers of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
The series is best remembered, though, for Pau’s heroics to win Game 6 late.
The Lakers would go on to win the title in seven games against the Celtics.
2012 Playoffs – Conference Semifinals
An aging Lakers core led by Kobe came up against an ascending Thunder side led by Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. It was a 5-game series with the Lakers were on the tail end of their dynasty.
The Thunder would go on to the Finals to face the Heatles and lose in five games.
A dip is all it takes to soak yourself in history.
All playoff history is from landofbasketball.com
