The Los Angeles Lakers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series, and if you’re wondering how you can watch all the action live, you’ve come to the right place.
After surprising many by upsetting the Houston Rockets in the first round, the Lakers are once again big underdogs against the Thunder to open up the second round of the playoffs. If they were given a slim chance to knock off the Rockets, they’re being given virtually no chance at all of getting past the Thunder, the defending NBA champions. The Thunder rammed Los Angeles in each of their four regular-season meetings, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and crew won three of those contests by at least 29 points.
Oklahoma City has one of the best defenses in recent memory, and it forces turnovers and turns them into transition scores as well as any team in the league right now. The Lakers had problems protecting the basketball versus Houston — in that series, they averaged 17.7 turnovers a game — and unless they rectify this problem, this series will likely get ugly.
While Austin Reaves returned from an oblique strain in Game 5 of the Rockets series, Luka Doncic still isn’t close to coming back from his Grade 2 hamstring strain. For Oklahoma City, rising star forward Jalen Williams is expected to sit out Game 1 due to a less serious hamstring strain.
Here’s how to watch the Lakers game, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:
What channel is Lakers vs Thunder game on today? Time, TV schedule
TV Channel: NBC, Peacock
Start time: 5:30 p.m. Pacific time
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Lakers vs Thunder injury reports
Lakers: Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain) is out.
Thunder: Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) and Jalen Williams (left hamstring strain) are out.
Lakers vs Thunder predictions, picks, odds
Thunder 118, Lakers 105: The Lakers could very well get destroyed in this opening game of the series, and they will have to make sure, at the very least, that they keep things close during the first half.
ODDS: Thunder by 15.5
O/U: 214 1/2
All NBA Odds via BetMGM.
Lakers schedule 2025-26
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This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How to watch Lakers vs Thunder Game 1 today: Time, TV channel
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
