Paul Pierce predicts Thunder will sweep Lakers

[ASFN Admin]

In the minds of most people, it isn't a matter of if the Oklahoma City Thunder will defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming Western Conference semifinal series between the two teams. It's only a question of how many games it will take the Thunder to eliminate LeBron James and company.

The Thunder, the defending NBA champions, are huge favorites in this series. Paul Pierce, the former Boston Celtics star who grew up as a Lakers fan in the Southland, explained why he thinks Oklahoma City will win in a sweep during an appearance on the "No Fouls Given" podcast.

“I don’t see the Lakers hanging with this group,” Pierce said. “They’re used to playing without (Jalen) Willams, you know what I’m saying? Then you’re asking LeBron again at 41... He’s going to log a lot of minutes and he’s going to be on the ball a lot more than he was when Luka [Doncic] is out there. It’s just going to be difficult. I don't think the Lakers get a game.

“… LeBron at 41 — I don’t want Lu Dort draped all over me all game, holding me. Cason Wallace, just all these guys draped all over you. When I got older, the guys started deny, you just like, don’t want to waste the energy to get open. You like, damn dog. Come on.”

Both Williams and Doncic are out for Game 1 on Tuesday with hamstring strains, and there is no timetable for Doncic's return. But while Doncic is the Lakers' franchise player and so monumental to their offense, the Thunder have won plenty of games this season without Williams, who appeared in just 33 regular-season games.

Everyone on the Lakers will have to step up big time offensively, and while James has a history of leading his teams to upset victories in playoff series, doing so against the defending world champions and the best defensive team in basketball may be too much to ask from him, no matter what his age is.

Then again, upsets do happen, and a couple of upsets have already occurred in this season's NBA playoffs.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Paul Pierce predicts Thunder will sweep Lakers

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