The Oklahoma City Thunder and LA Lakers are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the matchup on ESPN starts at 10:30 pm ET from the Staples Center and is streaming online from the WatchESPN website as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook meet in this western conference game.
The Lakers come into the game after a loss against the Pacers and while the team is terrible and in last place this season, they are not a complete joke like the Sixers. The team is 8-17 on the season and now they host OKC and Durant before a matchup with the Kings in Sac town. The team last won against the Wolves and they had a three game winning streak going before the Pacers loss.
Kobe Bryant is leading the team in scoring and he has played well despite the quality of the team, as he had 21 points and three assists to lead against the Pacers. Carlos Boozer added 10 rebounds and now the team will try and get a win against the Thunder. The team is averaging over 100 points per game, but they are ranked last in defense and that is another reason why they have such a bad record.
OKC comes in with a deceiving record since they played most of the season without Durant or Westbrook and now they are trying to get into good position in the west playoffs race. The team comes in after a tough loss to the Warriors by five points and that matchup saw Westbrook score 33 points and add eight assists. The team is ranked first in the league in scoring defense and fifth in rebounds per game, but they are just 22nd in scoring and they need to fix that.
The team comes in with the Pelicans next on the schedule and they are 12-14 on the season and improving since the two stars came back. Amazingly Oklahoma City is in second place in the division with that record behind the Trail Blazers and while they may not be able to catch Portland, they should be fine for the playoffs. Durant rolled his ankle in the game against the Warriors and he could be out on Friday for this matchup.
The loss against the Warriors snapped a seven game winning streak for the Thunder and now they are looking to win over the Lakers. Durant said that he wanted to keep playing and the test after the game came back negative. The team has seven wins in the nine games since Durant has come back and over the past 17 games with the Lakers, the team has 13 wins. They should be favored again and Westbrook comes in able to handle the load if Durant is out, as he is averaging over 25 points in his last four games against the Lakers and he could be the main option with Durant hobbled.
Check here for the Oklahoma City Thunder and LA Lakers live coverage.