Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in another 30-point performance on Friday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder played in their second consecutive overtime game, this one resulting in a 123-119 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls. The Bulls jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, but Thunder fans know all too well that a slow start is nothing to get too worried about.
Tonight the Thunder plays in the second game of a back-to-back as they travel to Houston to take on the Rockets, who are also coming off a Friday night win, a 128-122 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks, and just the fourth win of the season for Houston. The Rockets are similar to the Thunder in that they are also in rebuilding mode, but unfortunately for Houston, they don’t really have an establish leader like OKC does in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On top of that, the Rockets are dealing with a number of injuries.
The Thunder enters the matchup with the Rockets as slight favorites, and if OKC plays like they have been lately, they should be able to get out of Houston with a win. The key to this game will be slowing down Jalen Green, who put up 30 points last night against Atlanta. Green has been inefficient at times, but he’s still a very capable scorer, so Thunder fans can expect Luguentz Dort to get the matchup.
Game Details
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
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Houston Rockets Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Aleksej Pokusevski
- C: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Rockets
- PG: Kevin Porter Jr.
- SG: Jalen Green
- SF: Eric Gordon
- PF: Jabari Smith
- C: Alperen Sengun
Injury Report
Thunder
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (fractured left pinky).
- Eugene Omoruyi is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Lindy Waters is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Jaylin Williams is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Rockets
- Darius Days is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Bruno Fernando is OUT (left knee injury maintenance).
- Trevor Hudgins is OUT (G League —two way).
- Alperen Sengun is PROBABLE (strained right groin).
- Jae’Sean Tate is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- TyTy Washington Jr. is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 24-25 against the Rockets in the regular season (16-9 at home, 8-16 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 5 times, and tied 2 times.
- The Thunder lost the regular season series last season against the Rockets 2-1 (1-0 at home, 0-2 on the road).