Game 67 Pregame Primer: Thunder (41-25) @ Lakers (51-15)
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ESPN preview
Tip-off:
5:30 PM @ HP Field House, ? ESPN
Projected starting lineups:
| Oklahoma City | Los Angeles |
| PG: Chris Paul | PG: LeBron James |
| SG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope |
| SF: Lu Dort | SF: Danny Green |
| PF: Danilo Gallinari | PF: Anthony Davis |
| C: Steven Adams | C: JaVale McGee |
3 Big Things:
Regrouping: So, the last game wasn’t pretty. Between Michael Porter Jr. scoring a career high, Nikola Jokic dominating Steven Adams and an abundance of foul calls, almost everything swung against the Thunder’s momentum last time out. But in light of all this, the team once again proved its resilience by managing to grind out an extra overtime quarter of basketball versus a very talented Nuggets team. If only CP3 made that free throw…
The free throw: Yeah, we have to talk about this. At the end of regulation, Chris Paul — who’s statistically the most clutch player in the NBA — did the unthinkable and missed a freebie with the game on the line. Overreaction ensued. CP3 missing this free throw is not the end of the world. NBA players, yes, even stars, miss them all the time. Did it come at the worst time possible in this game? Sure. But he did still hit one that tied the game up and extended a very sloppy night from the Thunder into OT. Look for CP3 to have a huge impact against the LA team he was almost traded to.
SGA: Dennis Schröder is out, Mike Muscala is out, Terrance Ferguson is out. This all comes after an already suspect performance from the team last time out. Someone needs to step up and I think it’ll be the kid. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had five fouls in the fourth quarter against Denver and still managed to have an impressive performance. Overall, he had 24 points, two assists and five rebounds. Expect more from him in a prominent role this time out.
Live tweeting:
Follow along on Twitter with Daily Thunder and our beat writer Brandon Rahbar during the game!
