The Thunder saw their 11-game winning streak end as well as their chances of becoming the third team to reach 70 wins. However, the Thunder are still the number-one seed in the West and gearing up for a long playoff run. The Thunder are the favorites to come out of the West, but who are their biggest threats in the playoffs? A couple of months ago, we talked about four teams in the Nuggets, Rockets, Mavericks, and Grizzlies as the teams who were the biggest threats to the Thunder. However, the Lakers have slowly emerged over the last couple of months as the biggest threats to the Thunder.
The Lakers made a big move at the trade deadline to acquire Luka Doncic from the Mavericks. It was unclear at first how the pairing of Doncic and LeBron James would fare in their first year. Ultimately, it seems like the pairing has proven to work. The Thunder have two straight games against the Lakers, and it will be a big test for the Thunder to see how they match up with the Lakers. While some of the teams listed above are still threats to the Thunder, let’s dive into why the Lakers have emerged as the number one threat to the Thunder.
It was not that long ago that Doncic was in a Mavericks uniform and led that team to the NBA Finals. In that NBA Finals run, Doncic and the Mavericks beat a lot of good teams including the Thunder. They beat the Thunder 4-2 in the Western Conference Semifinals. However, if they meet again in the playoffs this year, Doncic will be in a Lakers uniform and paired up with James. One could argue that Doncic has more help this year with the Lakers than he did last year with the Mavericks.
However, there is one advantage the Thunder still have, and that is having Lu Dort around to guard Doncic. Dort has been impressive all year on the defensive side for the Thunder and is in the running for Defensive Player of the Year. Dort was able to hold his own against Doncic in the playoffs last year and forced him to average his lowest points per game in any round of the playoffs. Even if Dort can slow down Doncic though, the Thunder may not have an answer for James, and he could go off for 30-point outings.
When the Lakers made the trade for Doncic, one of the biggest worries was their defense. The Lakers traded away their best defenders to get Doncic, and some thought their defense wasn’t going to be good enough to win the NBA Finals. However, in their first couple of weeks after Doncic made his debut with the Lakers, the Lakers had a top-five defense. Even though they don’t have a true rim protector on their roster or a lot of size in the frontcourt, the Lakers found a way to compete at a high level on that end.
Recently, the Lakers defense has fallen off a bit, but they showed signs of what the defense could look like in the playoffs. If the Lakers can get their defense back to where it was in the playoffs, that will be tough to beat when adding that to what they can do offensively with Doncic, James, and Austin Reaves. They will be a serious problem in the playoffs and whether they meet in the second round or the Western Conference Finals, they will be the Thunder’s biggest test to reach the Finals.
The Thunder have been dominating teams all year as they have the best record in the NBA. However, even with them having the best record, there is a specific thing the Thunder have struggled with. That is dealing with length on the perimeter. The Thunder have a lot of size in the frontcourt and size in the backcourt with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being 6-foot-6, but it’s on the wings where the Thunder lack size and length. This is where the Lakers are strong, as they have tons of length and size on the perimeter. This could give players like Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams problems on the perimeter going against the Lakers’ size and length. Most of the teams the Thunder have lost to have had size on the perimeter.
We are winding down closer to the playoffs and teams are making their final push for seedings. The Thunder are focused on getting healthy for the playoffs as they have already locked up the number one seed. The Thunder are hoping to have a longer playoff run than they did last year when they fell to the Mavericks in the second round. However, the West is going to be very tough to get through with a couple of threats to the Thunder. Furthermore, it will be the Lakers that seem to be the toughest test for OKC
