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. Despite being considered underdogs, LaRavia said after Sunday’s practice that he and his teammates are focused on competing and winning.
“A lot of us on this team have been underdogs in life, especially in our journey with basketball,” LaRavia said. “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.”
LaRavia also emphasized that while the Lakers have respect for their opponents, they will not let that turn into fear. “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,” he 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 the regular season, Los Angeles lost all four games against Oklahoma City; however, both teams were missing key players during those matchups and LaRavia pointed out that playoff basketball brings a different level of focus as each side prepares for a single opponent.
Coaching strategy will play an important role as JJ Redick looks for ways to give his team an advantage against Oklahoma City’s depth and physicality.
LaRavia acknowledged what makes their upcoming opponents strong: “Very talented, their entire roster,” he said of Oklahoma City’s lineup. “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 this matchup with full rosters available for postseason play, observers expect an intense contest.