Maddie Meyer/Getty

Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

The LA Lakers will be entering the NBA playoffs’ second round as the heavy underdogs against the top-seeded OKC Thunder. For Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, the Lakers do not only have a long shot at winning, but they also do not stand a chance in Round 2. 

Speaking in the No Fouls Given podcast on Monday, Pierce believed the Lakers would not win any game in the series against the Thunder, citing the defending champions’ pesky defenders who would lock down the Lakers’ top offensive players, such as the 41-year-old LeBron James and Austin Reaves. 

“I don’t see the Lakers hanging with this group,” Pierce said, despite acknowledging that the Thunder will play the series without their secondary star Jalen Williams. “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 when Luka is out there. It’s just going to be difficult…LeBron at 41, I don’t want Lu Dort draped all over me all game, holding me. Cason Wallace, all these guys are draped all over you. When I got older, the guys started denying, you just like, don’t want to waste the energy to get open.”

The Thunder won 64 games in the regular season and has yet to lose a game in the postseason after sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Thunder won by an average margin of 17.25 points against the Suns. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers, which played without Reaves and Doncic for most of the first round, had a 3-0 lead over the Houston Rockets in Round 1, before dropping the next two games and eventually advancing in the next round via Game 6 victory. 

Lakers Know How Good The Thunder Has Been

GettyThe Lakers know what they are up against.

The Lakers playing as a heavy underdog is not a surprise, considering the Thunder’s dominance over the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. 

According to Lakers head coach JJ Redick, his team will be facing one of the best teams in NBA history. 

“The Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” he said. “That’s just the reality. They’re that good. I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”

The Thunder enters the second round with long rest and preparations after dispatching the Suns last week. 

The Lakers are hoping to have Doncic, the team’s leading scorer in the regular season, back in the second-round series against the Thunder. Doncic hurt his hamstring late in the regular season against the Thunder. 

Thunder, Lakers Open Round 2 on Tuesday

GettyThunder and Lakers open series on Tuesday.

The Thunder and the Lakers will open their Round 2 series on Tuesday, May 5, in Oklahoma City. Game 2 will still be in OKC, before it shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. 

It will be the first playoff series between the two squads since the 2012 Western Conference semifinals, when the Thunder still had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, while the Lakers were then led by the late great Kobe Bryant. 

LeBron James is expected to carry the load for the Lakers, while MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will banner the Thunder.