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

Prediction published on 04/03/2024, 02:08  by Kennedy Kechula in NBA Predictions

The LA Lakers will be at home against the OKC Thunder looking to get back to winning ways in the NBA. At the moment, the hosts are 10th in the Western Conference table while the Thunder are top. The Lakers saw a two-game winning run halted last time out as they fell 124-114 at home to the Nuggets. Their 29th loss of the season saw them drop to four games above. 500. Darvin Ham’s men are locked in an intense battle to avoid the play-in and are now 3.5 games from the top six. But as they have defeated the Thunder twice this season, they will be confident of getting back on track here. LeBron James, fresh from becoming the first player to score 40,000 career points, has been listed as ‘Questionable’ for this match. Cam Reddish and Anthony Davis are both available. Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, and Christian Wood remain long-term absentees. The Lakers are averaging 117.1 points and are giving up an almost similar number to their opponents.

The Thunder are ranked fourth on offence as they are averaging 121.2 points a night. Their defence is much better than that of the Lakers as they are allowing 113.3 points on average. Coupling this with their recent hot streak, Mike Daigneault’s men will be confident of a win here. OKC have won seven of their last eight games. They are coming off a 118-110 victory over the Suns in Phoenix on the first night of a scheduled back-to-back. This was the right response to a 132-118 loss in San Antonio that halted a six-game winning streak. A second successive win here will see OKC split this regular season series at 2-2. The Thunder won the first matchup of the season back in December in dominant fashion. They scored 133 points and won by 23. As this is the second match of a back-to-back, OKC’s latest injury report is yet to be revealed. Jaylin Williams was the only major absentee against the Suns and is expected to be the only one here.