Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Toyota Center (Houston, Texas)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off their season on Wednesday in a less than spectacular fashion. Their matchup in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz was never really close, and after trailing by 12 at halftime, the Thunder failed to get the deficit to single digits before falling 107-86. Thunder rookie Josh Giddey, the no. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, but he scored just 4 points on 2-of-7 (28.6%) shooting.
Tonight, the Thunder travels to Houston to take on the Rockets. The Rockets were also blown out in their season opener on Wednesday, a a 124-106 road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game was never close after Minnesota led by as many as 35, and Houston rookie Jalen Green, the no. 2 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, had a mediocre NBA debut, tallying just 9 points on 4-of-14 (28.6%) from the field, including 1-of-6 (16.7%) from downtown.
The Thunder and the Rockets will do plenty of battle this season as they both fight for the bottom spot in the standings with hopes of gaining a better draft pick next summer. Still, that doesn’t mean this matchup can’t be an exciting one. With two top-6 draft picks going against one another, there’s bound to be some highlights here and there, and it will be interesting to see who wants to win this one (lose this one?) more.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Josh Giddey
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Derrick Favors
Rockets
- PG: Kevin Porter Jr.
- SG: Jalen Green
- SF: Jae’Sean Tate
- PF: Daniel Theis
- C: Christian Wood
Injuries
Thunder
- No injuries.
Rockets
- Danuel House is OUT (personal reasons).
- John Wall is OUT (personal reasons).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 23-23 against the Rockets in the regular season (15-9 at home, 8-14 on the road) and 7-9 against the Rockets in the playoffs (5-2 at home, 2-7 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the season series with the Rockets 7 times, lost it 4 times, and tied 2 times.
- The Thunder won the regular season series last season against the Rockets 2-1 (1-1 at home, 1-0 on the road).