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By Tyler Erzberger
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A decade ago, 31-year-old LeBron James did the unthinkable.
He stopped the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals and thwarted the team that usurped Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls as the most successful regular-season team in league history.
James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a title and delivered his home state a championship in an emotional scene.
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Fast forward a decade, and 41-year-old James might have an even higher mountain to climb in the Western Conference semifinals: the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, fully operational, with the Lakers missing the NBA's leading scorer, Luka Doncic.
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The Thunder, even with Doncic, are a terrible matchup for the Lakers, with everything they need to slow down L.A.'s offense while scoring at will against them.
The Lakers beat the Houston Rockets by playing strong defense and forcing inconsistent shooters to beat them, and they outlasted Houston.
That won't be the same against the Thunder, who will attack the Lakers' weak spots and suffocate them on defense.
A 31-year-old James would have trouble efficiently scoring on this arguably historic Thunder defense. James at 41? It might be impossible.
While Doncic's return to this series will loom over each game, the Slovenian superstar hasn't even begun running. His return, at best, could come in the second half of the series, and that would mean the Lakers would have to steal a game or two to even get Doncic on the floor.
The Thunder have won five straight against the Lakers, and four of them were blowouts. Although league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is historically not his best against L.A., it really shouldn't matter when their scoring can come in waves. And if their offense isn't rolling, they have the defense to win a rock fight with a Doncic-less Lakers squad.
If James and the Lakers can win one game in this series, it would be a win.
I think the Thunder dismantle Los Angeles, but to give James his due, I believe he will have one game in this series where he turns back the clock and wins a game for the Lakers that puts a tiny bit of fear into the defending champions.
Prediction: Thunder in 5
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