Lakers open second round May 4

The Lakers are through, but the bigger story now is the shape of the next fight. Los Angeles finished off Houston 98-78 on Friday night, May 1, and that(nba.com)e important correction here is the date — Game 1 is listed for Tuesday, May 5, not May 4, with Oklahoma City opening at home after a much cleaner first round. (nba.com) ### What changed Friday night? The Lakers ended the Rockets series in Game 6 and did i(nba.com)he field, and went 5-for-28 from three. That turned a tense series into a pretty blunt finish, and it spared Los Angeles the wear of a Game 7. (nba.com) ### Who carried the closeout? LeBron James was the center of it again — 28 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists in 37 minutes. Rui Hachimura added 21 and hit 5 threes, while Austin Rea(nba.com)om Deandre Ayton, who grabbed 16 rebounds, which helped them control the game even without Luka Doncic available. (nba.com) ### So when does the Thunder series start? The official NBA playoff page shows Thunder-Lakers Game 1 on Tuesda(nba.com)s Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday, May 9, and Game 4 on Monday, May 11. If it goes long, Games 5 through 7 are scheduled for May 13, May 16, and May 18. (nba.com) ### Why is the date confusion even happening? Because the broader playoff schedule page was still in update mode late Friday and showed the semif(nba.com)eries page had the matchup and dates filled in. Basically, the first-round result became official Friday night, and the cleaner series-specific page is the one that resolves the timing. (nba.com) ### Why is Oklahoma City such a tough draw? Rest, depth, and seed line. The Thund(nba.com)ve had extra time off while the Lakers were still grinding through six games. The series page also highlights the top-line star matchup pretty clearly — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered with 33.8 points per game in the playoffs, while LeBron was pacing the Lakers at 23.2 points and 8.3 assists. (nba.com) ### Are the Lakers really big underdogs? (nba.com)ing markets pushed Oklahoma City into clear favorite territory, with one widely circulated opening number putting the Thunder at -350 for the series and the Lakers at +280. That lines up with the basic logic here: OKC had the easier first round, home court, and the better regular-season profile. (sports.yahoo.com) need for this to get weird? The Lakers need the series to become a half-court, possession-by-possession grind. They just showed they can win that kind of game against Houston. But Oklahoma City is a different problem — more organized, more explosive, and less likely to hand away possessions with bad shooting nights. So the real swing factor is whether James and the Lakers can drag the pace down and turn every game into a late execution test. That last part is an inference from the matchup shape, not a published team claim. (nba.com) ### Bottom line The Lakers did the hard part Friday by finishing Houston. Now they get almost no runway before a much steeper test. And the cleanest fact to keep in mind is this one: the second round opens in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, May 5. (nba.com)