Ahead of Game 2 in Oklahoma City tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers are fully aware that the odds are stacked against them.
Without Luka Doncic, who is likely out for the series, the Lakers just don’t have the depth or the man-power to keep up with the NBA’s defending champions, who finished with a league-high 64 wins. During a pre-game segment on Prime Thursday, NBA legend Steve Nash spoke honestly about the difficult path ahead for LA, and, specifically, the need for their offense to step up and play more like what we saw in the regular season.
“Four straight games for the Lakers under 100 points,” said Nash. “It’s very difficult to beat OKC if you can’t get up there.”
The Lakers found a spark down the stretch of the season and early in the Rockets series, thanks to key contributions from Deandre Ayton, Luke Kennard, and Marcus Smart. In Game 1, however, they combined to score just 29 points on poor efficiency, leaving LeBron James to carry most of the offense.
The most concerning stat line came from Austin Reaves, who finished with just eight points, five rebounds, six assists, zero steals, and one block on just 18.7% shooting (0-5 from three). He hasn’t looked right since coming back from his hamstring strain on April 29th, and it doesn’t help that he’s up against the best defensive team in the NBA.
“I think with this Austin Reaves situation, it’s going to be difficult for him,” Nash added. “He’s playing the best defense in the league. He’s been out 4-5 weeks. Even if he goes 5/5, they still lose. They’re 15-point underdogs every night. The Lakers, I thought they played well, but they’re just not as good as OKC.”
As a two-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, and NBA Hall of Famer, former Suns star Steve Nash knows more than most about what it takes to succeed at the highest levels. While he never actually won a title himself, he made several trips to the Conference Finals as one of the defining point guards of his generation. Today, although his tenure as a coach did not go well, he remains a fountain of wisdom and knowledge for active players, and the Lakers would do well to heed his words.
As much as they have to hold up on the defensive end, it’ll take more than that to beat this Thunder squad. After all, they held Shai Gilegous-Alexander to just 18 points in Game 1, along with two rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks on 8-15 shooting, and it still wasn’t enough to win. As Nash explained, the Lakers’ offense will have to get going if they want any chance of victory, and it only puts more pressure on Reaves and James to make something happen.
For now, it’s clear that the Lakers are facing a far superior opponent. At every position, in nearly every aspect, the Thunder are deeper, stronger, and just all-around more efficient. For the Lakers to turn the tide, they’ll need a borderline miracle, along with key leadership from James and Reaves. Of course, it also demands that the Lakers limit their own mistakes, to stay within the razor-thin margin for error.
For Nash, it hardly matters how Reaves is playing, Healthy or not, the Lakers are not equipped to keep up in this series. Given that the Lakers are 0-5 against them this year (regular season and playoffs), the evidence shows that he’s right.
