Lakers Highlights: Los Angeles vs Oklahoma City Thunder

The Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of a difficult six-game stretch that pits them against some of the very best that the NBA has to offer. After falling to the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles will try to defend home court against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With a record of seven wins and seven losses, the home side will have to come out on top if they want to remain above .500 for the season.

Making things even more difficult, Los Angeles will be playing without D’Angelo Russell, who is out nursing a sore knee. Without their starting point guard, the team will have to dig deep in order to bring home a win. Veteran point guard Jose Calderon will step in for Russell, and the team will also have to rely on their bench, who leads the league in scoring, to carry an even larger burden than usual. Jordan Clarkson, who struggled in his last outing, will have to rediscover his shooting stroke as well, and veteran small forward Luol Deng will need to live up to the large contract he was given this offseason.

Defensively, they will have to attempt to slow down Russell Westbrook, who has been a force of nature so far this season. Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo will also prove to be difficult to handle, and it will require sharp defensive focus to keep them under wraps.

Check out the highlights below, courtesy of the Lakers official Twitter account: