Lakers Look To Upset Thunder…Again

Shut down for the season, Kobe Bryant has called out the Lakers’ front office.

Shrouded in drama and tattooed with headlines, the Los Angeles Lakers will look to shock the world once more Thursday night as they face the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time in five days.

Tip-off at Chesapeake Energy Arena is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET.

The Lakers (22-42, 11-22 road) have been headline material since scoring an upset victory over the Thunder in their last outing on Sunday.

On Wednesday, the front office announced that Kobe Bryant would not return this season. Bryant, who has been absent with a knee injury since mid-December and has played in just six games all season, is being shut down after trainer Gary Vitti revealed he simply hasn’t healed.

That’s bad news for a Lakers side that has been decimated by injury over the past season; bad news but not unexpected news.

If that wasn’t enough to get beat writers, editors and news anchors in a frenzy, Bryant then called out the front office, claiming the organization needed to change its culture. “I think it has to start at the top,” Bryant told reporters.

Those were sentiments echoed by former Laker great, Earvin “Magic” Johnson on his Twitter account.

If things couldn’t get worse for Jim and Jeanie Buss, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the deal between ex-Laker coach Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks is now officially in place, extinguishing any hope of the franchise bringing the talismanic Jackson back to the Staples Center.

And all of this comes in the face of what is looking to be the Lakers’ worst season on the hardwood.

For those keeping count, the 1974-75 Lakers finished a franchise worst 30-52 (since the NBA moved to an 82 game schedule). That side was a 22-44 through 66 games, a record identical to this year’s side. The ’75 Lakers won game No. 67, something the current side hopes to emulate.

While the Lakers are having an undeniably bad season, things haven’t been quite so bad of late, relatively speaking.

Sunday’s 114-110 upset over the Thunder pushed the Lakers’ record to 3-3 over the last six. Nothing to write home about for many teams, a .500 record – even across such a shot timespan – is a miracle for a team that had lost 26 of its last 32.

So can the Lakers pick up an upset win again?

While unlikely (see the odds below), if Jodie Meeks goes off for 42 points again, Pau Gasol tallies a double-double, and six players finish in double figure – all of which occurred on Sunday – then you have to say the Lakers have a chance.

Oklahoma City (47-17, 27-6 home) will look to quash any chance early on.

The Thunder rebounded from Sunday’s defeat – a second straight and fifth in eight games – by defeating the Houston Rockets 106-98 on Tuesday.

Kevin Durant scored 42 in that matchup to back-up the triple-double he notched against the Lakers. The frontrunner for this year’s MVP award has averaged 33.7 points against the Lakers this season, and will be looking to pile the misery on the already miserable franchise.

Bookmakers expect that misery to be forthcoming.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder odds for 03/13/2014

The Lakers (+1750) opened as a huge underdog in this one, with Oklahoma City (-3700) expected to breeze through this game despite Sunday’s result.

Oklahoma City has won seven straight against the Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena and has won seven of the last nine head-to-head matchups played on either court.

With the Lakers missing Bryant, Steve Nash (back), Jordan Hill (knee), and Nick Young (knee), they could once again be ripe for the pickings. But the Thunder is without Kendrick Perkins (groin) and Thabo Sefalosha (calf), two of the side’s best defenders.

The spread opened at 16 and remains within close proximity.

Despite being horrible straight up, the Lakers (35-29-0 ATS) have done fairly well against the spread this season, and sport an almost identical record to the Thunder (35-28-1 ATS).

The Lakers have covered in five of their last seven contests, while the Thunder has gone 3-6-1 ATS over the last 10 games.

The Lakers are 2-1-0 ATS when playing Oklahoma City this season but are just 3-9-1 ATS in the last 13 trips to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The total opened at 225 and has climbed as high as 228.

Both Los Angeles (36-26-2) and Oklahoma City (33-31-0) have favored the over this season, and two of the three head-to-head matchups have seen the total go over.

The total has also gone over in seven of the last 10 head-to-head meetings and five of six the two have played in Oklahoma City.

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