The Oklahoma City Thunder led the New Orleans Pelicans by 20 last night in the third quarter, but the Pels were able to close the gap quickly before eventually taking a lead in the fourth quarter. A back-and-forth final few minutes made for plenty of excitement, but OKC was able to escape New Orleans with a 119-112 victory.
Life doesn’t get much easier for OKC as they traveled home last night to get ready for a home SEGABABA against the Houston Rockets. Add to it that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is out due that sore quad he’s been hampering. The Rockets have won 9 straight and 11 of their last 12, but they are missing Alperen Sengun, who has been especially problematic for OKC in recent matchups.
The Thunder are a slight favorite tonight, so hopefully they can handle business. With just 10 games remaining until the postseason, OKC needs to continue to focus on playing with a consistent rhythm down the stretch so that they can enter the playoffs at full strength and with plenty of momentum.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
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: Cason Wallace
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Rockets
- PG: Fred VanVleet
- SG: Jalen Green
- SF: Amen Thompson
- PF: Dillon Brooks
- C: Jabari Smith
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Adam Flageler is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (right quad contusion).
Rockets
- Steven Adams is OUT (PCL surgery on right knee).
- Tari Eason is OUT (left tibia surgery).
- Nate Hinton is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Jermaine Samuels Jr. is OUT (G league — two-way).
- Alperen Sengun is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Cam Whitmore is OUT (sprained right knee).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 28-29 against the Rockets in the regular season (18-10 at home, 9-19 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 3 times.
- The Thunder went 2-2 against the Rockets last season (2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road).
- The Thunder is 2-1 against the Rockets so far this season (1-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 5 of the last 6 against the Rockets in Oklahoma City.