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Oklahoma City Thunder (26-17) vs Los Angeles Lakers (24-11), Chesapeake Energy Arena
The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Los Angeles Lakers tonight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder are coming off a disappointing defeat against the Atlanta Hawks, whereas the Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
With that in mind, let us see how things stand for both the teams ahead of this vital clash.
The Oklahoma City Thunder's perspective
The Thunder have won only one game out of their last five and will look to get back to winning ways with a win tonight.
The Atlanta Hawks beat them on Tuesday, where Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and dished out 11 assists. Westbrook will be an essential factor tonight as he is in a lot of Thunder games. He is currently averaging 21.7 points, 10.6 assists and 10.7 rebounds for the season.
Also, Paul George is having a great season as he is averaging 26.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. His stats are better than his career stats, and Westbrook trusts him a lot during the clutch situations.
The Thunder need to win tonight to gain some winning momentum. They are currently third in the West.
Los Angeles Lakers' perspective
The Lakers have been struggling without LeBron. The young squad is good but not good enough to hold on to the winning momentum they had with LeBron.
However, they will be confident coming into the game tonight after a victory against the Chicago Bulls. Lonzo Ball and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 and 17 points respectively against the Bulls. These two will again be a critical factor tonight.
Also, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram scored 16 points apiece in the last match. They both are expected to score much more tonight if Lakers need to win against an excellent defensive Thunder team.
The Lakers will be willing to maintain their winning ways by upsetting the OKC on the road.
How things might unfold
These two teams met on the 2nd of this month, and we all know what happened. Paul George was on fire and scored 37 points at the Staples Center.
We can expect the same result tonight and even better for the Thunder side as they are at home tonight.
Prediction: Thunder to beat Lakers
