The Oklahoman City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers are playing on Thursday night in the final game on TNT before the All Star break and the game at 10:30 pm ET will be from the Staples Center and streaming and comes a week before OKC visits LeBron James and that is the next anticipated matchup for Kevin Durant.
The Thunder come into the game after a nice win over their division rivals in the Portland Trail Blazers and they have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season and that was three point win and now they play the Lakers before the matchup in Miami. Durant and the Thunder won the last game in a blowout and now they come in as the best team in the NBA and in the west and visiting the Lakers is a total different situation than in the past. The Thunder have 42 wins and 12 losses, while the Lakers have just 18 wins all season with Kobe Bryant out and now it's a battle between James and Ruant for the MVP and every other award thus season.
Durant likely will win MVP though, as Russell Westbrook has missed a significant amount of time this season and the team has not suffered for it and while that could change come playoff time, it has been a marvel to watch Durant do his work. James has dealt with some of the same issues since Dwyane Wade has been dealing with injuries and he will ge the chance to prove himself once again next Thursday. The two stars were the top vet getters for the all star game and they remain the two best players in the NBA and the Thunder have been great all season, averaging over 104 points per game.
The team is ranked fifth in scoring and fifth in rebounds per game and they are also in the to 10 in points allowed on defense and 14th in assists per game despite Westbrook being out. The Lakers have been absolutely terrible this season and they are coming off of a loss to one of the worst teams in the Utah Jazz and after Durant led the way for the Thunder against the Blazers, little used Chris Kaman was best for the Lakers with 25 points and 14 rebounds and Steve Blake was tops with eight assists and they both could end up out of the city at the trading deadline. The Lakers are ranked 15th in points per game this season and 29th in points allowed and they are also ranked in the top 10 in assists per game.
