Lakers vs. Thunder Preview and Game Thread: Battle against the league’s best team

The Lakers have a tough task ahead as they square off against the Thunder in back-to-back games

The Lakers are back on the road and will face the Thunder twice in the next three days. These will be L.A.’s last two meetings against Oklahoma in the regular season, as the latter currently holds the season series lead at 1-0.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

When: 12:30 PDT, Apr 6

Where: Paycom Center

Watch: NBA TV, Spectrum SportsNet

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This last week of the regular season is crucial for the Lakers, as their performance in these final five games will determine their postseason seeding.

Thanks to their bounce-back victory against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, the purple and gold are 47-30 and the third seed in the Western Conference.

Assuming the Golden State Warriors win out, the Lakers would need to finish at least 4-1 in their final games to remain the three seed.

But that’s not going to be easy for Los Angeles because their next two games will be against the Thunder, the best and most consistent team in the league all season long.

OKC, who has already clinched the first seed of the Western Conference, has won nine of their last 10. They just lost against the Houston Rockets, which honestly doesn’t affect them much at this point. OKC is essentially just waiting for the postseason.

That’s why Sunday’s game means more to the Lakers than the Thunder. However, this young, hungry, determined OKC team will not just give this one away.

For the Lakers to win, they must play their best basketball in weeks.

That means L.A. needs to be ready on both ends of the floor because they’re stumbling into an OKC team with the best defense in the NBA throughout the year and currently the third-best offense.

The Thunder are as complete of a team as it gets, having quality players in all positions and a deep bench.

On top of that, they’re a terrific 3-point shooting team and are top 10 in the league in points in the paint.

Perhaps the best way the Lakers can keep up with the Thunder is for them to once again get solid performances from their big three in Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

That, as well as contributions from their role players, will help them put up a fight against this OKC team that has lost just five times on its home floor all season.

Ideally, it would be nice if the Lakers could split these next two games, or better yet, win both.

For L.A. to come out on top, they must approach this one like it’s a playoff game. The last thing they want is to end their season having given their opponents confidence and proof that they can beat them. It’s now or never for the purple and gold.

Let’s see if the Lakers can answer the call on Sunday when they face the best team in the NBA.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, LeBron James (left groin strain) is probable, while Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery recovery) is out.
• As for OKC, Ousmane Dieng (left calf strain), Alex Ducas (left calf strain), Ajay Mitchell (right toe surgery), Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) and Jaylin Williams (left ankle sprain) are all out.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.