The top two teams in the Western Conference meet for a rare 5th time in the regular season on Friday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the Rockets in Houston. OKC has gotten the best of the Rockets 3 out of 4 previous meetings, but with the top spot locked up by the Thunder and the Rockets still hoping to finish as the 2-seed, the motivation for winning this one is arguably a bit lop-sided.
Still, the Thunder secured the 1-seed a couple of weeks ago, but they are currently the hottest team in the league as they have won 11 straight games with an average margin of 18.2 points. The Rockets have played well down the regular season stretch also, winning 13 of their last 15, and they are healthy, but they will be without Dillon Brooks tonight due to a league suspension for receiving his 16th technical foul of the season.
Oklahoma City still isn’t 100% healthy, but they are close, and for the first time in nearly two weeks, Aaron Wiggins should be back in action. As long as the Thunder can stay healthy, they have a good chance at making a deep run in the postseason, but for now, they are taking it one game at a time as they continue to find ways to improve and sharpen their game ahead of the playoffs.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network, NBATV
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: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Rockets
- PG: Fred VanVleet
- SG: Jalen Green
- SF: Amen Thompson
- PF: Tari Eason
- C: Alperen Sengun
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (strained left calf) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (strained right quad) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (sprained left ankle) is QUESTIONABLE.
Rockets
- Dillon Brooks (league suspension) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 31-31 against the Rockets in the regular season (22-11 at home, 9-20 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 4 times.
- The Thunder went 2-2 against the Rockets last season (1-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 3-1 against the Rockets (2-0 at home, 0-1 on the road, and 1-0 at a neutral location).