In the first round, it was the Lakers who were up 3-0 over the Rockets, looking to complete a sweep. Now, in the second round, they are on the other side, looking to avoid going out in four games against the Thunder.
So far, the odds don’t look so good. Not only have the Lakers lost all three games, but they have been blown out in each. Oklahoma City has an average margin of victory of 19.6 points and a net rating of +20, which is the best in the second round.
Add in the fact that the Lakers lost all
four games against the Thunder in the regular season and will have to play Game 4 without Luka Dončić, and it’s hard to find any sort of optimism. So, it’s no surprise that FanDuel’s odds have the Thunder ending this series in a sweep as they are currently -560 favorites.
Still, for the Lakers, it’s not over till it’s over.
“You just come and compete,” Austin Reaves said after Game 3. “It’s a bunch of guys in this locker room that are competitors. Basically, the message after the game was we’re going to come in here Monday and we’re going to win. Obviously, the situation sucks, but that doesn’t give us the license to quit.
“We got to come in here and compete. We owe the organization that. We owe each other that. We owe our fans that. So, we’re going to come here Monday and play as hard as we can.”
The Lakers might not have found the recipe for success, but it hasn’t been due to a lack of trying.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick has made defensive adjustments, has found success limiting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring and has gone to players who were out of the rotation, like Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero.
However, it hasn’t turned a loss into a win, since the Thunder just have too many playable guys who can step up and perform.
“Typically, if you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have like a temporary solution or can sort of adjust maybe a little bit,” Redick said. “This team in-game, because of their personnel, can just adjust like that. They need shooters on the floor? Great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor? Great. They need two bigs on the floor? Great. They’re a terrific basketball team. I said that before the series. I’ve been very impressed with them. I still think we can beat them. But we got to be better.”
To the Lakers’ credit, there has been no sign of quitting from this team. Redick can be seen coaching every night like it’s Game 7.
Marcus Smart’s defending SGA hard, Reaves keeps trying to attack the paint and generate offense and LeBron James is playing well over 30 minutes per game at 41 years old.
The room for error that the Lakers have is slim to none. OKC is the defending champion and hasn’t lost a playoff game yet. Clearly, beating them isn’t easy and to do so will take a complete performance.
“Well, obviously, everything,” LeBron said of what will be needed in Game 4. “Everything and more to beat a team like this. We’ll have to be at our best on Monday.”
Winning four straight games after losing the first three in a best-of-seven is daunting. It’s never been done before. Someone will eventually do it.
The Lakers will attempt to be that first team, and it starts on Monday with Game 4.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
