Los Angeles Lakers will lock horns against OKC in NBA 2021-22 on Saturday, 09 April 2022 at 08:00 AM IST
Head coach Mark Daigneault’s team is headed to the lottery yet again and will be using their remaining two games to give exposure to their young roster.
They were pummeled by the playoff-bound Utah Jazz in their last game but have found another potential diamond in the rough in rookie Jaylen Hoard.
Hoard has shown impressive form and could become another important piece in General Manager Sam Presti’s jigsaw puzzle.
The Lakers’ disastrous season is about to come to a merciful end. LA will play their last game at Crypto.com Arena before they pack up and finish their campaign on the road against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
OKC Thunder
The OKC Thunder are decimated by injuries, which will give them an even better excuse to test their young lineup. They are somewhat in a win-win situation as they give their youthful group valuable NBA experience while also increasing their chances of better draft positioning.
Despite their inexperience and disadvantage in talent, the Thunder stayed relatively close to the Utah Jazz until they were left in the dust in the fourth quarter.
Rookie Jaylen Hoard had another spectacular game, finishing with 23 points on 8-17 shooting from the field, including 5-8 from long distance.
LA Lakers
In hindsight, the LA Lakers’ catastrophic season could have started when they suffered back-to-back humiliating losses to the OKC Thunder earlier in the season.
The Thunder had no business winning those games, and yet they did. OKC refused to give up and stunned LA despite surrendering huge leads to the star-studded squad.
LeBron James wasn’t around in those two losses, but the Lakers had a healthy Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Those defeats were taken as minor blips owing to a lack of chemistry when there were already signs of how dysfunctional the team will be this season.
Fantasy Tips
Los Angeles Lakers team has the upper hand over Oklahoma City Thunder team. So try to pick more players from Los Angeles Lakers
Small League Must Picks:
LAL: LeBron James [2423 points], Russell Westbrook [2413 points] OKC: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander [640 points], Josh Giddey [475 points]
Grand League Risky Picks:
LAL: Kent Bazemore [308 points], Dwight Howard [808 points] OKC: Derrick Favors [173 points], Mike Muscala [189 points]
LAL Key Players:
Dwight Howard
Carmelo Anthony
Malik Monk
Anthony Davis
Russell Westbrook
LeBron James
OKC Key Players:
Mike Muscala
Luguentz Dort
Darius Bazley
Josh Giddey
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Best Choice for Captain and Vice-Captain:
Darius Bazley
Josh Giddey
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Malik Monk
Anthony Davis
Russell Westbrook
LeBron James
Injury/unavailable
LAL NBA Team Injuries:
There are no injury updates as of now.
OKC NBA Team Injuries:
There are no injury updates as of now.
Squads
Los Angeles Lakers Squad:
Russell Westbrook, Malik Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker, LeBron James, Kent Bazemore, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Mason Jones, Wenyen Gabriel, Avery Bradley, Trevor Ariza, Kendrick Nunn, D.J. Augustin, Wayne Ellington, Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson
Oklahoma City Thunder Squad:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Mike Muscala, Melvin Frazier, Derrick Favors, Olivier Sarr, Jaylen Hoard, Zavier Simpson, Ty Jerome, Theo Maledon, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Georgios Kalaitzakis, Lindy Waters, Vit Krejci, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Roby