Lakers' Deandre Ayton Raises Concern About Thunder Fans

The Los Angeles Lakers will take the court at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center for Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Thunder on Tuesday night.

The Thunder have one of the best home-game environments in the NBA, and the arena will no doubt be rocking for the first two games of this postseason matchup.

Lakers center Deandre Ayton acknowledged this home-court advantage when speaking with reporters at Monday’s practice.

“You can’t hear yourself. They're definitely the Thunder for a reason. Their fans are thunderous,” Ayton said with a laugh. “You can hear the floor shaking, the bleachers, you can’t even hear a play call."

“You’ve got to be super dialed in,” he continued. “They’re the defending champs. Their fans have been in atmospheres and hype games. They’re ready for their team to do their thing. We’ve just got to come in super prepared and just dial out all the noise.”

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The Thunder finished the 2025-26 regular season with an NBA-best 64-18 record, including a 34-8 record in home games. They swept the No. 8 seed Phoenix Suns in Round 1, winning each of their home games with an average margin of victory of 24 points.

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The Lakers took down the Houston Rockets in Round 1, notching two of their four victories on the road. Los Angeles closed out the series with a Game 6 win at Houston’s Toyota Center.

Game 1 between the Lakers and Thunder will tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 7:44 PM.