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After taking care of the Rockets in six games, the Lakers will move to the second round for a matchup against the league’s best team in the Thunder.
The series will start on Tuesday, May 5.
The defending champions ran riot through everyone not named San Antonio this season, then made quick work of Phoenix in the first round. As a result, it will be a well-rested OKC team that is waiting for the Lakers, who are anything but rested.
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None of the four meetings between OKC and LA went the way of the purple and gold and the majority of them were blowouts.
In the first meeting, the LeBron James-less Lakers were routed in Oklahoma City early in the season. The second meeting did not come until early February and it was the closest result of the season, but still saw the Thunder, without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, beat the Lakers, without Luka Dončić, with a late fourth-quarter burst.
The third meeting was the inflection point in the season for the Lakers as not only did OKC soundly beat a full-strength purple and gold side, but injuries to Luka and Austin Reaves drastically changed the final week of the season and the team’s playoff hopes. The final showdown five days later was a game that should have been an e-mail as the Lakers sat what was left of their team in a blowout loss.
As you can see, the Thunder have beaten every iteration of the Lakers, whether at full strength or not. That probably shouldn’t breed much confidence heading into the series, nor will the fact that Luka is not expected back any time soon either.
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Outside of that, though, this should be a really fun series. At least they got to the second round, unlike a certain other team in the Rocky Mountains.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-play-thunder-second-round-041507775.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-02 04:15:00
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