Isaiah Joe’s elite floor spacing and Cason Wallace’s disruptive perimeter defense hold the keys to dismantling a veteran Lakers squad and securing a Western Conference Finals berth.
The Thunder begin their second-round series against the Lakers at 7:30 p.m. Central on May 5. There is only one day of rest between games until a two-day break occurs from Game 5 to Game 6, which does not bode well for Los Angeles’ veteran team and its hopes of a Luka Dončić return.
Can Oklahoma City become the first reigning champion to make the Conference Finals since the 2019 Warriors? Check out the Thunder’s two biggest X Factors for this matchup.
Isaiah Joe
Los Angeles finished the regular season ranked 20th in defensive rating because the roster has a bunch of exploitable defenders and lacks athleticism and speed relative to youthful teams like the Thunder.
The Lakers especially struggle to prevent elite scorers from generating paint touches, which is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s specialty. Los Angeles has no choice but to load up on him by squeezing in its perimeter defenders to the elbows, thus creating traffic.
How can Mark Daigneault punish this strategy? Isaiah Joe standing on the wing and always being one pass away from Gilgeous-Alexander allows the MVP to make a simple pass to Joe for a catch-and-shoot triple should Joe’s man collapse towards Gilgeous-Alexander.
The following clip perfectly depicts this scenario, as Marcus Smart shades over to help and does not get back in time to contest Joe’s triple. The pass was also a little off – imagine the space Joe will have on pinpoint passes.
Additionally, the Lakers’ defense is susceptible to snoozing and ball watching. It’s a consequence of rostering low-activity defenders. Joe can capitalize on this flaw by flying around the court and creating chaos. For example, Joe sets a ghost screen in the following clip that causes a miscommunication between Drew Timme and Bronny James.
Overall, Joe averaged 19.5 points per game on 57.1% shooting against the Lakers this season. It’s not a fluke, as he’s a matchup nightmare for Los Angeles given his off-ball movement and quick trigger.
Cason Wallace
The Lakers committed turnovers at the 14th-highest rate during the regular season, and their issues ballooned in the first round with Dončić sidelined. Unfortunately for them, the Thunder’s defense is ultra-aggressive and thrives at generating deflections and steals.
Cason Wallace, in particular, will haunt Los Angeles. He led the NBA in total steals this season and has some of the quickest hands in the league. Wallace will spend plenty of time defending Austin Reaves, who can be forced into mistakes by tremendous on-ball pressure.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky product also excels at muddying passing lanes and timing his swipes. Deandre Ayton is one of the worst pass-catching bigs across the association, so look for Wallace and other Thunder defenders to routinely strip him inside the paint.
Across four matchups this regular season, the Thunder outscored the Lakers 89-59 in points off turnovers. Look for the champs to advance quickly if this trend holds.