All Lakers Expert Predictions For Thunder-LA, Amidst Flurry Of Injuries

Can LA buck the odds and snag a win?

Your Los Angeles Lakers will host the Western Conference's second-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (27-11) tonight at 7:30 p.m. PT.

At 19-21, the Purple and Gold currently occupy the West's 11th seed. They've lost two straight contests, and have gone 3-7 in their last ten contests. LA can ill afford to lose much ground. The 18-21 Golden State Warriors are currently just 0.5 games behind them in the race for the 10th and final play-in spot in the conference. 

On the flip side of that issue, the Lakers also trail their conference's fifth, sixth, and seventh seeds (the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively) by just four games. Every contest counts for this club, but Los Angeles has finally been hit by a rash of injuries. The Lakers will be missing point guards D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent, small forward Cam Reddish, and potentially could also be without All-NBA power forward LeBon James, who sat out LA"s 132-125 loss to the Jazz Saturday. 

Can LA buck the odds and vanquish a better team tonight, at the exact midway point of the regular season (Game 41)? We answer that and more with tonight's batch of expert predictions.

Will the Lakers cover tonight's spread?

Despite looking pretty vulnerable against everybody over the past month (the Lakers haven't had a blowout since the In-Season Tournament in early December), oddsmakers in Vegas apparently favor LA tonight. Per The Action Network, Los Angeles is considered a -1.5 point favorite to beat the Thunder at home. This current reeling LA club just doesn't have the offense to compete with one of the league's more elite clubs, assuming OKC is firing on all cylinders. Look for the Thunder to win.

Who can stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Across his last 10 contests, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 33.1 points on .604/.447/.845 shooting splits, 6.2 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals a night. The 6'6" All-NBA superstar has been on an absolutely lethal tear, and with Gabe Vincent absent and Jarred Vanderbilt underwhelming, how will Darvin Ham contain him? 

Simply put, he won't. It will be up to players like Vanderbilt and Austin Reaves to muck up passing lanes, compelling Gilgeous-Alexander to score rather than pass, and sealing off his best two colleagues, rookie center Chet Holmgren and second-year power forward Jalen Williams.

What will tonight's starting five look like?

D'Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish are both down for the count this evening. Assuming LeBron James can play, I expect Darvin Ham to start Austin Reaves at point guard, Taurean Prince at shooting guard, LeBron James at small forward, Rui Hachimura at power forward, and Anthony Davis at center.