Thunder at Lakers
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Lakers sure don’t like to make things easy on themselves. Just last week they were in prime position to upend San Antonio for the top spot in the Western Conference. Four straight losses later and even the No. 2 seed is now no longer a given with Dallas closing in. Sitting in fourth place, Oklahoma City is in a battle itself, trailing the Mavericks by one game and the Lakers by two. In a rematch of last year’s entertaining first-round playoff series, the Lakers play host to the Thunder on Sunday night at Staples Center.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV, FOX West
ABOUT THE LAKERS (55-24): Los Angeles was the NBA’s hottest team, winning 17 of 18 since the All-Star break to sneak up on the Spurs. But now that hopes of the top seed have been extinguished, the Lakers will settle for some consistency as they close out the regular season. The two-time defending champions haven’t won since April 1 and are fresh off a 93-86 loss to Portland on Friday. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points but coach Phil Jackson accused his squad of not playing hard. The Lakers can’t afford to be on cruise control against the Thunder in trying to avoid their first five-game losing skid since 2007.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (53-26): Now matter what seed they end up in, the Thunder seem to be the one team that no one in the West is looking forward to facing. The young and athletic bunch pose a difficult matchup for most teams, as evident by their 14 wins in the past 17 games. The Thunder won their fourth in a row Friday, beating Denver 104-89 behind Kevin Durant’s 28 points. Sunday’s game marks the first for center Kendrick Perkins with the Thunder since he called Lakers forward Pau Gasol soft, a claim most of the Lakers laughed off but surely haven’t forgotten.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had six steals against Denver and has 13 over his last four. Thabo Sefolosha has made just one of his last 11 3-pointers. Lakers center Andrew Bynum is averaging 13.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in his last five. Gasol had just eight points on Friday, snapping a string of 31 straight double-figure outings.
KEY STATISTIC: 87.0 - The Lakers’ scoring average during this current four-game skid. They average 101.2 for the season - ninth highest in the NBA.
SEASON SERIES: The Lakers can sweep the three-game season set with a victory. Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Bynum had 16 and 10 in Los Angeles’ 90-87 road win on Feb. 27.
KEY INJURIES: LOS ANGELES: C Andrew Bynum (illness); F Devin Ebanks (leg). OKLAHOMA CITY: None.
LAST WORD: "I'm concerned very much so. You can't turn the switch on and off like that in basketball without having to pay some kind of price. Your game just doesn't come back all of the sudden. If we had injuries and people out and there was some sustaining facts behind it, that would be one thing, but there really isn't." Jackson, on the Lakers’ recent lack of effort