Here is what you need to know before the Lakers’ final road game of the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
1)
This game marks the end of Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour. The 20-year veteran will reach his goal of playing at every road arena for the final time, once he takes the floor in Oklahoma City. After this last away game, Bryant will head back to Los Angeles for his career finale on Wednesday.
2)
Bryant didn’t look like a man on his way to retirement in Sunday’s loss to Houston. Despite playing only 27 minutes, he erupted for 35 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field, plus a perfect 11-of-11 at the free throw line.
3)
Getting one last road win for Bryant won’t be easy. The Lakers have lost seven straight to the Thunder, including by an average of 26.3 points in three games this season. Los Angeles also hasn’t won in Oklahoma City since Feb. 27, 2011.
4)
The Lakers will have to handle one of the league’s most explosive offenses, as Oklahoma City ranks second in scoring (110.4) and third in field goal percentage (47.8). On an individual level, they also boast two of the NBA’s top 10 scorers in Kevin Durant (28.1; third) and Russell Westbrook (23.6; eighth).
5)
The Thunder players are formidable on the other side of the floor, as well. When guarded by Durant, opposing players shoot 6.1 percent worse than average, which is the highest differential in the league. Meanwhile, starting center Steven Adams clocks in at third at -5.3.
6)
The Thunder gobble up 48.4 rebounds per game, which not only leads the league, but is on pace for the most by any team over the past 25 years. A true team effort, they are doing this without a single player among the NBA’s top 20 in individual rebounding.
7)
Durant has been an offensive inferno lately, scoring at least 30 points in five of his last six games. During this surge, his 31.0 points per game average ranks only behind James Harden (31.8), who dropped 40 on the Lakers the day before.
8)
Like Durant, Westbrook has been on a different level lately, averaging a triple-double over his last four games (21.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 10.5 assists). The Hawthorne native has 17 triple-doubles on the season, which ties Magic Johnson for the eighth-most all-time. Only Oscar Robertson (five times) and Wilt Chamberlain (twice) have ever tallied more.
9)
Enes Kanter has packaged a nice resume for Sixth Man of the Year candidacy. He not only shoots the NBA’s fourth-best field goal percentage (58.0), but deals plenty of damage in limited minutes, tallying 23 double-doubles, more than twice the total of the next-best bench player (Tristan Thompson, 11*).
10)
Kanter and his fellow reserves have been key indicators of victory this season. Oklahoma City is 30-7 when its bench outscores the opponent’s.
*Thompson has 23 double-doubles this year, but 12 came while in the starting lineup.