OKC Thunder vs. Lakers: OKC in search of elusive first win

Key matchup:

The logical matchups of note would be LeBron and AD. However, given the uncertainty, they’ll even play its best to turn our attention to the former favored son of the Thunder — Russell Westbrook.

He had his best game in his Lakers tenure versus the Spurs. The Brodie looked much more comfortable and for good reason. Without James in the lineup, the ball was primarily in Russ’ hands which aligns with his skills.

Westbrook flirted with a triple-double posting a stat line of 33 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals. His perimeter shot remained cold (1 of 4) and is now 2 of 15 on the season.

That said he shot the ball much better in general hitting 15 of his 27 shots. Those field goals equaled his output through the three prior matches (15 of 43) and he had the fewest turnovers (three) since the season start having posted no fewer than four per game (and nine versus the Grizzlies).

While there are positives to glean from this performance it’s important to note Westbrook was averaging 15 shot attempts prior to Tuesday so once James returns to the lineup those 27 shots will seem like a mirage.

The good news is Westbrook was Brodie-esque in the Spurs match and had chemistry with Davis. The complicated part is Frank Vogel needs to figure out how to get “this aggressive version” of Russ to mesh with LeBron in the lineup.

As per above, it’s likely the Lakers will exercise caution with James and hold him out until the ankle has absolutely no pain especially considering the upcoming opponents.

Including this match, the Lakers’ next 11 games feature nine teams who didn’t play in the 2021 postseason. Plus, after tonight only one of those games occurs on the road (Portland).

Granted, some of those nine teams are improved like the Bulls, Hornets, and Wolves but every opponent is likely envious of this Lakers’ itinerary of the Thunder, Rockets, and Spurs (twice each) plus the Cavaliers. (In contrast — the Thunder will face ten 2021 playoff squads in their next 14 matches.)

It’s sort of the ideal scenario for Vogel to iron out the kinks of meshing Russ and LeBron and using the lower seeds to practice the tweaks they need to make. They’ll also be able to get in practice sessions and extensive film review.

One thing is for sure, Vogel needs to send the schedule makers a very nice Christmas gift because the Lakers play just three road games in their first 15 games. In contrast, they finish the season playing 14 of their final 21 games on the road.

As for tonight’s match, Westbrook can expect a steady diet of Luguentz Dort especially if LeBron is out.