Can Lakers survive Thunder? Predictions, odds and schedule for series

The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals and will face last year's champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a best-of-seven series. The last time these franchises saw each other in the postseason was 2012.

The majority of experts and bettors have counted the Lakers out against the Houston Rockets in the first round, but they prevailed and made it past them. But the Rockets aren't a championship team, the Thunder are.

The same experts and bettors who counted Los Angeles out in the opening series are doubling down against Oklahoma City. And it makes sense.

During their four matchups in the 2025-26 regular season, the Lakers lost all games by an average margin of 29.3 points, the worst regular-season point differential of any playoff matchup in NBA history. Luka Doncic didn't play in two of the four games. Of the two he did play in, he suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain during their April 2 meeting, causing him to leave early. The Lakers lost that game by 43 points and Doncic has been out since.

Doncic won't be available to start the series against the Thunder and his timetable is relatively unknown, especially since he hasn't participated in scrimmages or workouts, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

"I'm told that it's a slow path on his recovery," Charania said during an April 29 appearance on ESPN's "Get Up." "The expectation is that Luka Doncic will be out to start (the OKC) series. There's still no clarity on a timeline. He's starting ramp-up a little bit more and more on the court, still isn't progressing to full scrimmages and workouts yet."

That said. The Thunder are also without Jalen Williams, who is also dealing with a hamstring injury. Will the Thunder continue their quest to become the first back-to-back champions since the '17-'18 Warriors? Or will the Lakers look to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2023?

Here's everything you need to know about the Lakers-Thunder Western Conference semifinal series, including TV schedule, how to watch, odds and predictions of what the experts are saying about the matchup:

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Lakers NBA playoffs schedule, TV information

Here's the full schedule for the Western Conference semifinal, second round 2026 NBA playoff matchup between the Lakers and Thunder.

• Game 1: Lakers at Thunder, May 5, 5:30 p.m., NBC (stream with Peacock)
• Game 2: Lakers at Thunder, May 7, 6:30 p.m. Prime (stream with Prime Video)
• Game 3: Thunder at Lakers, May 9, 5:30 p.m., ABC (stream with FUBO)
• Game 4: Thunder at Lakers, May 11, 7:30 p.m., Prime (stream with Prime Video)
• Game 5: Lakers at Thunder, May 13, TBD (if necessary)
• Game 6: Thunder at Lakers, May 16, TBD (if necessary)
• Game 7: Lakers at Thunder, May 18, TBD (if necessary)

Lakers vs. Thunder predictions

Mostly everyone is going to ride with Oklahoma City and everything about their recent history says to do so. If you want to add insult to injury and include their playoff history, then sure do that. In their last matchup in 2012, the Thunder defeated the Lakers in five games on their way to an NBA Finals appearance. However, back to the present.

Make no mistake, the Thunder are the favorite to win the series, but without all-NBA talent in Jalen Williams, it's not the landslide many predict. The Lakers are feeding off the doubters and haters, using it as fuel. If there's anything everyone should've learned after the first round, it's don't doubt the Lake Show.

Here's what experts are saying about the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder playoff matchup in the second round.

USA TODAY Sports: Thunder win it, but don't count out LA

• Lorenzo Reyes: Thunder in 5
• Scooby Axson: Thunder in 5
• Mark Giannotto: Thunder in 5
• Jon Hoefling: Thunder in 5
• James H. Williams: Thunder in 5
• Marcus D. Smith: Lakers in 7
• Andrés Soto: Thunder in 6

OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder in 5

Clemente Almanza writes: "It's difficult to forecast this Round 2 series. Doncic's and Williams' injury clouds any real predictions. But I feel like the Thunder are deservedly the heavy favorite. Gilgeous-Alexander is on a mission. He's on his way to back-to-back MVP awards. OKC should torch Los Angeles' defense and then force them to cough up the ball a ton. It won't be as one-sided as their Round 1 matchup, but this should be a quick series."

The Oklahoman: Thunder have huge edge vs Lakers in NBA playoff series

Justin Martinez writes: "Just look at how the regular-season meetings between OKC and Los Angeles went. The Thunder is clearly better, and the Lakers have even less of a chance of making this a competitive series with Dončić's availability up in the air. In my eyes, OKC gets the clean sweep in this matchup breakdown."

The Athletic: Overwhelmingly, OKC

• Joel Lorenzi: Thunder in 5
• Doug Haller: Thunder 5
• Dan Woike: Thunder in 6
• William Guillory: Thunder in 5

ESPN: Oklahoma City Thunder

• Vincent Goodwill: Thunder in 5
• Zach Kram: Thunder in 5
• Bobby Marks: Thunder in 5
• Anthony Slater: Thunder in 5
• Marc J. Spears: Thunder in 5
• Ohm Youngmisuk: Thunder in 6
• Ramona Shelburne: Thunder in 5
• Andre Snellings: Thunder in 6
• Michael C. Wright: Thunder in 5
• Jamal Collier: Thunder in 5
• Dave McMenamin: Thunder in 7
• Tim Bontemps: Thunder in 4

Thunder vs. Lakers odds

Odds are courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook.

To win the series

• Thunder: -2000
• Lakers: +950

To win in four games

• Thunder: +155
• Lakers: +25000

To win in five games

• Thunder: +200
• Lakers: +6600

To win in six games

• Thunder: +450
• Lakers: +2500

To win in seven games

• Thunder: +825
• Lakers: +2000