Club 520 Host Jeff Teague on Lakers' Chances vs OKC & Knicks’ Sixers Rout

Jeff Teague is calling Oklahoma City over the Lakers in five.

The Club 520 podcast host laid out his pick on Rich's show Tuesday and made the case in two pieces. The Thunder's defensive identity, and the absence of Luka Doncic.

"OKC is just a machine right now," Teague said. "The way they're put together, the way they play together, they play for one defensively, they get after it. I think they're going to pressure LA full court the whole series, and I think they'll wear them down a little bit."

Cason Wallace and Lou Dort, in Teague's read, are going to spend 90 feet of the floor on Austin Reaves and LeBron James. Marcus Smart will get pressured. The depth, he said, is real. Then there is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the best player in the league by Teague's argument.

"I just don't see it being that much of a series," Teague said. "It's a gentleman sweep."

Rich pushed for the counter. Why can't the Lakers surprise him?

The answer was Luka. Teague pointed to the Houston Rockets making things competitive against Kevin Durant's team despite Durant being out, and said the same logic does not extend to the Lakers without Doncic. He sees Doncic as 35 points and the playmaking arc of a series, the kind of player who can put a team on his shoulders and take them past a really good team. Without him, Teague said, the math is gone.

He gave Reaves credit. He flagged DeAndre Ayton playing more engaged than the word that usually gets used about him. But neither, Teague said, outlasts the Thunder.

The conversation pivoted to the Knicks after that, and Teague reluctantly offered the same prediction Rich was hearing from everyone else. New York is the best team in the East right now.

He just hated saying it. The Indiana kid in him remembers Reggie Miller against Spike Lee, and the rivalries that ran through Pacers-Knicks playoff series. Teague said his New York friends are unbearable right now.

The next obstacle for the Knicks, in his read, is Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell can go for 40 on any given night. James Harden can still run an offense. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are versatile enough to defend Karl-Anthony Towns. The matchup, Teague said, would be a great one. The Pistons, who beat the Knicks in the regular season, would be the worse draw.

He has Brunson scoring on anyone in the East. He just is not sure anyone left in the East can stop him.