The Los Angeles Lakers are preparing to face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round of the playoffs, according to a May 4 statement from forward Jake LaRavia. The Lakers, who advanced past the Houston Rockets in the first round, enter this series as underdogs.
LaRavia said after Sunday’s practice that being considered an underdog does not concern him or his teammates. “I don’t know if any of us really care,” LaRavia said. “A lot of us on this team have been underdogs in life, especially in our journey with basketball. It’s not really something we look at or we really care about. We’re coming in to compete. We’re coming in to win a series.”
He also spoke about maintaining respect for their opponents without letting it become intimidation. “The thing is, when you’re coming into any game, regular season or playoffs, you can respect the team, but you can’t fear them,” LaRavia said. “You can’t come into the game fearing the opponent. You’re just going to come in and get punked. We respect how good this team is, but our goal is to win. Win the games and win the series. So our mindset stays the same when it comes to that.”
During regular season play, both teams had key players missing during all four meetings between them—games which were won by Oklahoma City—but both sides will now have an opportunity to focus fully on each other throughout this playoff matchup.
Head coach JJ Redick will be tasked with making important adjustments as he leads Los Angeles against a deep Thunder roster described by LaRavia as “very talented.” LaRavia added: “There was a lot of times during the season where they had guys in and out of the rotation and they just have a lot of players that can come in and just go hoop for them. Obviously they’re very physical. Defensively, they just play very well on-ball, off-ball. Collectively, they just got a lot of talented pieces so it should be a great series.”
As both teams prepare for what could be a competitive series, attention will focus on how Los Angeles adapts its strategy and whether players like LaRavia can step up defensively against stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
