Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 24/03/2023, 11:24  by Joseph King | Modified on 24/03/2023 at 11:24 in NBA Predictions

The Los Angeles Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA for this Western Conference clash in the NBA. The Lakers are chasing a playoff spot at the moment in an extremely congested West standings, where they currently sit 10th with a record of 36 wins and 37 losses. As things stand at the moment, that would grant LA entry into the play-in tournament where they would have to defeat the ninth seed and then the loser of the seventh vs eighth seed matchup in order to enter the playoffs proper. The Lakers are coming off a morale-boosting 122-111 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, making it back-to-back wins for the 17-time champions. While they have struggled for consistency this season, the Lakers have at least shown improvement when playing on their home court, where they have posted a 20 win 17 loss record.

On the other side, the young Thunder come into town looking to spoil the Lakers winning run. OKC just finished up a double-header with the Lakers’ local rivals the LA Clippers, where they won the first game 101-100 before losing the second game 127-105. The Thunder have been playing much better basketball as of late and are showing signs of what could develop into a very competitive team in the future. The visitors have now won five of their last seven games to move up to 11th in the standings, even with the Lakers on a record of 36-37. The young OKC players will feel now that they have a real shot at making the playoffs as, amazingly, only a half game separates themselves from the seventh-place TimberWolves. This is the third game of the Thunder’s four game road trip which they close out on Sunday with a matchup against Portland.