Oklahoma City Thunder (36-36) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (36-37)
The 2022-23 NBA season continues on Friday, March 24, 2023, when the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Los Angeles Lakers in this Western Conference clash at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. No line or total was available at the time this preview was written.
These teams have met twice the season with the road team winning both contests. That includes a 133-130 victory by Oklahoma City in Los Angeles on February 7. The Thunder were underdogs in that contest (+6.5) with the total set at 241.0.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (36-36, 43-26-3 ATS) pulled off a narrow victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. They take on the Clippers again on Thursday, but this preview was written prior to the conclusion of that contest. Oklahoma City is 14-21 on the road this season but is 3-1 in their last four road contests heading into Thursday’s game. The Thunder are in eighth in the Western Conference standings, 1.0 games behind Golden State.
“I went up for the rebound, kind of hit his leg,” Luguentz Dort said. “I didn’t do it on purpose, definitely an accident.”
Another look at Lu's lockdown defense last night ?? pic.twitter.com/b15Iohg31W
& mdash; OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 22, 2023
Oklahoma City jumped out to a five-point lead heading into the half, but Los Angeles was able to battle back to pull within one point. However, Paul George was injured with a little over four minutes left in the contest and that allowed the Thunder to close out the game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 31 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. He was 6-7 from the free-throw line as Oklahoma City went 13-14 from the line.
The Thunder are one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, averaging 117.6 points per contest, fourth overall. They are only averaging 46.7% from the field, 22nd overall, and 36.0% from three-point range, 17th in the NBA. However, this is one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the NBA, ranked sixth overall at 80.7%. Over the last five games the offense has struggled, only averaging 111.8 points per game, but they are playing very good defense, holding their last five opponents to 109.0 points per game.
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