Date: Jan. 11, 2020Tip-Off Time: 7 p.m. CTTelevision: Fox Sports OklahomaRadio: 98.1 FM WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network
Thunder Status After a commanding victory at home on Thursday over the Rockets, the Thunder now tout a 16-5 record since Thanksgiving, the best in the Western Conference. In its past 13 games, the Thunder has gone 11-2 and is operating at an extremely high level offensively. As proof, in the game on Thursday, the Rockets tried a little bit of everything defensively in an attempt to quell the Thunder’s momentum. They switched, they stayed back in a drop coverage and even tried playing up in pick and roll. The Thunder rolled with the punches led by Danilo Gallinari who took advantage of every situation the Rockets defense presented. If they switched a smaller guard, Gallinari would score on the block; if the defender got clipped by the screen, he would let it fly from three or pull up in the midrange.
On the defensive end, OKC strung together 48 minutes of disciplined, smothering defense. As a result, the Thunder held the Rockets who average a league-leading 119 points per game to a season-low 92 points and the league’s leading scorer in James Harden to only 17 points.
Opponent Breakdown The Lakers, with their size and athleticism, thrive in the paint. Just over 47 percent of their points come from the lane and as a result, they lead the league in field goal percentage shooting at a 48.2-percent clip. The number one team in the West is headlined by 16-year veteran LeBron James who averages over 25.0 points per game. The size doesn’t stop with the 6-foot-8 point forward. Surrounding James is 7-footer JaVale McGee at the center spot, along with 6-foot-10 forwards in Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard.
The Lakers’ size creates plenty of matchup puzzles for the Thunder who often boast a smaller three-point guard lineup. It will be a matchup to keep an eye on throughout the game.
Matchup Focus Fast-break points: While the Lakers dominate in the lane, a lot of its production comes from transition and fast-break opportunities as well. Leading the league in percentage of points in the fast break with 16 percent. The Thunder will look to take care of the ball and hustle back on defense to limit any easy opportunities in transition.
“They’re great in transition because of Lebron and they’ve got guys that can really fill the lanes,” said Thunder head coach Billy Donovan. “The biggest part is can you get back and get the floor balanced because they’re so explosive in attacking in transition.”
Thunder Trend Part of the Thunder’s efficiency in recent games can be traced back to the free-throw line. Over the past five games, the Thunder has made more free throws than their opponents have attempted. This illustrates a clean, disciplined effort on defense to not put opponents to the charity stripe. Offensively, this is a result of the Thunder remaining aggressive on downhill attacks, drawing fouls and getting easy points at the foul line.