The season series is split at one game apiece and it will be settled tomorrow. Both teams are itching to get some rhythm going as the two aren’t playing well over the past couple of games.
The Houston Rockets won the first meeting back in October, 116-112, and then the Oklahoma City evened it up this past week through a dominating 113-92 victory.
HOME TEAM: Houston Rockets (26-15, 14-6 at home)
The Houston Rockets are losers of three in a row. The losses have come from two opponents with a losing record and one against the Los Angeles Lakers at home, where they blew a double-digit lead in the second half.
James Harden is in a shooting slump that he’s struggling to get out of. He’s only knocking down 33.6% of his shots in his last six games – he’s still scoring 29.7 per game in that stretch, though.
Fortunately, Russell Westbrook is staying efficient with his shots and production, as he is putting up 32.5 PPG on 53.2%-shooting across his last four games.
The Rockets are fourth in scoring (118.6 PPG) but only 26th in points allowed (114.9 PAPG), and it will be in an interesting match-up against the Thunder’s top-ranked defense.
ROAD TEAM: Oklahoma City Thunder (24-19, 10-10 on the road)
The hot-and-cold Thunder have only gone 4-4 in their last eight games, but they will be coming off a 119-106 win over the Portland Trail Blazers this past Sunday.
The starting guards starred in that recent victory – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, while Chris Paul had a season-high 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
The two should be able to continue guiding the OKC offense, alongside Danilo Gallinari (19 PPG), Dennis Schroder (18.2 PPG), and Steven Adams (11.6 PPG, 9.9 RPG).
The Thunder’s slow-paced style (24th in pace) is considerably good at disrupting the opposition’s attack. They allow the fewest fastbreak points (10.6), fourth-fewest assists (22.6), and sixth-fewest threes per game (11.1) and all should be a good foil against the Rockets’ quick-trigger offense.
PREDICTION:
The game will have a couple of interesting match-ups – Harden and Westbrook versus Gilgeous-Alexander and Paul will be a battle between playmaking backcourts, while big men Adams and Clint Capela will be a clash of bruising double-double machines.
The Rockets should be able to build energy off the home crowd and take this one, 116-108.