The Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder begin their Western Conference playoffs semifinals series on Tuesday at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma.
The No. 1 seed Thunder swept the Phoenix Suns in four games, and the No. 4 seed Lakers got past the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets in six games.
Unfortunately, the Lakers went 0-4 against the Thunder in the regular season, and LA head coach JJ Redick had a five-word assessment about the play against OKC.
“We sucked against this team,” Redick said.
JJ Redick on their 4 regular-season matchups against the Thunder: “We sucked against this team.” pic.twitter.com/zeKaEItNsM
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 5, 2026
Here were the scores from the four matchups this season:
- November 12: Thunder win, 121-92
- February 9: Thunder win 119-110
- April 2: Thunder win 139-96
- April 7: Thunder win 123-87
Three of the four losses for the Lakers came via double-digits and in games where they scored less than 100 points, so Redick’s assessment was right on point.
The Lakers have been without Luka Doncic for the entire first-round series, although Austin Reaves was able to return for the final two games against Houston.
Still, the Thunder won the first three games against the Suns by double digits, including a 35-point blowout win in Game 1, so the defending NBA champions have a lot of momentum entering this series.
Game 1 and Game 2 are in Oklahoma City before the series shifts to LA.
