Thunder vs. Lakers Prediction and Odds for November 29: West-Coast NBA Cup Showdown

The Oklahoma City Thunder (14-4) will visit the Los Angeles Lakers (11-7) for a Friday installment of the NBA In-Season Tournament.

The Thunder ripped off three straight wins, most recently beating the Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors as part of a West Coast road trip. The Lakers stopped a three-game skid with their win on Wednesday and are 7-2 at home.

Here, we will analyze the betting odds and share our favorite Thunder vs. Lakers picks for Friday.

Thunder vs. Lakers Betting Odds for Friday, November 29

The Thunder are 10-8 (55.6 percent) against the spread, 5-3 (62.5 percent) ATS on the road, and 9-8 (52.9 percent) ATS as a favorite.

The Lakers are 8-10 (44.4 percent) ATS, 5-4 (55.6 percent) ATS at home, and 2-3 (40 percent) ATS as an underdog.

The following odds for the Knicks vs. Mavericks game are courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Place your bets at BetMGM and claim up to $1,500 in bonus bets* with our promo code WSNSPORTS.

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Thunder vs. Lakers Prediction

Oklahoma City Thunder Preview

The Thunder are simply an excellent team, which they proved with their performances ever since Chet Holmgren was lost to an injury. 

Initially leaving them without a single healthy center, the Thunder posted the fourth-best net rating in the eight games since Holmgren was sidelined and the third-best net rating since Isaiah Hartenstein returned to the lineup and gave them a healthy center.

OKC makes its money on the defensive end of the court. They posted a league-best defensive rating of 103.0, a tick ahead of the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic. They also rank 11th in offensive rating despite struggling to make their three-point attempts (34.6 percent - 22nd), which they had no trouble doing last year.

The Thunder already beat some of the toughest opponents in the league, including the Warriors, Magic, Rockets, and Denver Nuggets. They earned the first seed in the Western Conference last year and are positioned to do the same again this time around.

While OKC loves to run and ranks sixth in pace, it is, predictably, dead last in rebound rate. That is one of the margins its opponents will have to exploit to try to win games, especially since they commit turnovers at the second-lowest rate.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders is having another great year, averaging 29.5 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.3 rebounds on 50.5 percent shooting. Jalen Williams is also continuing his improvement and averaged 21.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.

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Los Angeles Lakers Preview

The Lakers have shown solid stretches of brilliant offense under J.J. Redick. Unfortunately, their defense is mostly a disaster. 

The Lakers allowed the fifth-most points per 100 possessions and have a negative net rating despite being four games above .500. 

On the flip side, only three teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Boston Celtics) scored more points per 100 possessions than they did. That’s despite them ranking only 20th in made three-pointers per game.

LA gets to the line relentlessly and lead the league with 19.8 made free throws per game. They also shoot a productive 55.5 percent on two-point shots, good enough for eighth in the league on the backs of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and other players who love to attack the rim.

The purple and gold’s frontcourt size has not made them a great rebounding team. They rank only 26th in rebound rate and are missing a glaring opportunity to maximize their personnel’s potential and to take advantage of the Thunder’s glaring weakness. 

The decision to move D’Angelo Russell to the bench helped the second unit become more productive, but unfortunately, their +0.5 bench net rating pales in comparison to the league-best +5.6 maintained by the Thunder.

Davis should feast on the Thunder’s small defense, but it remains to be seen how everyone else will do against a terrifying rotation of perimeter defenders.

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Thunder vs. Lakers Betting Pick

• Thunder vs. Lakers pick: Thunder -1.5 (-110) at BetMGM

Games like these are ones that the Lakers sometimes show up for, and sometimes show no interest at all. Davis should be in for a great game even with Hartenstein on the floor, but OKC forces a ton of turnovers and defends the heck out of the perimeter.

The Lakers’ second unit is going to struggle to defend against the constant movement of the visitors. They’ll need Russell or Dalton Knecht to have a nice game and to complement the scoring of the starting five against a team that loves to run the legs off of their opponents.

Ultimately, this feels like a game that could be close, but that the Thunder win in key moments to finish on top.

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How to Watch Thunder vs. Lakers on 11/29/24

When: Friday, Nov. 29 @ 7:00/10:00 p.m. PT/ET

Where: crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

TV: ESPN

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