With five games remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting ready for two games in a row on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who Luka Doncic faced last postseason.
Due to how close seeding is in the Western Conference, L.A. needs to win as many games as possible to finish out the regular season. But, going against Oklahoma City will not be easy and will serve as a measuring stick to show how serious the Lakers are as contenders.
At this point, the Thunder have the best point differential in NBA history, so Doncic knows it is going to be a big challenge.
“Definitely a big challenge,” he said. “They all know how to play. They’re first in the West for a reason. They’ve been playing amazing. They have a guy that is playing [at an] MVP level. The whole team is good. So, it’s gonna be a big, big challenge for us.”
Oklahoma City’s defense is in the upper echelon, being No. 1 for a good chunk of the year. With capable perimeter defenders, Doncic shared how he was able to find success in their postseason matchup last year that he can lean on going into these games.
“I just played through it,” Doncic said of the Thunder’s physicality. “It was a very physical series. We were all very tired after that series. But it was fun, definitely fun. OKC is a tough matchup, but those matchups are special. Like I said before, it’s going to be a big challenge for us, but also it’s these games that are fun to play.”
One positive to having a challenging schedule to close it out is L.A. is playing in playoff-like environments against West teams fighting for seeding. Austin Reaves had a similar sentiment as Doncic, knowing these next two games are a big time test for their team.
“It’s just, it’s a great test,” Reaves said. “You know, they’re obviously a really good team with probably the frontrunner for the MVP right now. So, the team plays really hard in their position, guards at a high level, and then on their end, they play with space. Like I said, Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] does what he does, but it’s a good test for us to match up with the number one team in the west and see where we’re at right now and continue to try to prove that we’re a good team too.”
This past month has been a challenging one for the Lakers with inconsistent play, and now is a chance to turn the tide. Ideally, beating the Thunder once would bode well as L.A. ramps up for what they hope to be a long postseason run.
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