Gameday Preview: OKC Thunder aim for bounce back victory vs. LeBron-less Lakers
By Alex Mcewen
Views from LA
The Los Angeles Lakers are going through struggles of their own right now. With LeBron James having missed 11 consecutive contests, the Lakers have gone 4-7 in the King’s absence. Their recent slide has led to unfair criticism of their third-year head coach Luke Walton and subsequently placed him on the proverbial hot seat.
According to NBA.com/Stats player impact estimate tool, when LeBron is on the court Los Angeles is plus +95, when James is off the court the Lakers are minus-54. Using the same tool, set to advanced metrics, when James is off the court LA possesses an offensive rating of 102.5 if sustained for the entire season the mark would place 29th in the league.
Across the board, the Thunder and Lakers are very different squads, but in three categories, the teams closely resemble each other.
1: LA shoots 33.4 percent from distance, OKC connects on 32.8 percent of their threes both rank in the bottom five.
2: The Lakers pull down 47.1 rebounds per game, while the Thunder grab 48.3 boards per contest, both rank in the top five.
3: Last, but not the least, LA connects on an astounding 68.3 percent of their foul shots, whereas OKC hits 71.0 percent of their freebies both teams rank in the bottom five.
Given these numbers and the Thunder’s recent outings, the Lakers will have a fair chance to walk out of the Peake with a W tonight.