Although the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder have already punched their ticket to the postseason, that doesn’t mean they can’t improve their position for a deep run. The Rockets can potentially grab the No. 2 seed in the West with a win and a Denver loss while the Thunder will do almost anything to avoid being the 8 seed so they don’t have to face the Warriors in the first round.
The Rockets opened as 1-point favorites with a total of 225.5.
Rockets vs Thunder Game Center
STANDOUT STATS
- The Rockets are a league-best 20-4 SU in 24 games since the all-star break while going 14-8-2 ATS in those games. They’re also riding a six-game win streak where they’ve been destroying teams. Houston has won the last six by an average of 25.8 points with the closest margin being 11 points.
- The Rockets have been getting a large part of their offense from behind the arc. Since the all-star break, they lead the NBA in three-point attempts per game (46.3) while hitting 17.3 of them (37.4 percent). Their red-hot shooting led to them setting an NBA record with 27 made threes vs the Suns in their last game, breaking the record they had previously held when they hit 26 in a game.
- The Thunder are trying to avoid the 8 seed so they don’t have to play the Warriors and have won three straight vs the Lakers, Pistons and Timberwolves. However, they’ve been up and down at home since the all-star break at 6-7 SU and 4-9 ATS. They also have been allowing teams to hit 38.9 percent of their three-point attempts, which does not bode well when playing the Rockets.
- This will be the final regular-season game for the Rockets while the Thunder still have two remaining. After facing the Rockets, the Thunder travel to Milwaukee to face a likely rested Bucks lineup. In the lone game that the Thunder hosted the Rockets this season, they held Houston to 80 points and 37.8 percent from the floor, however, Chris Paul did not play in that game.
- In three games this season between these two teams, the UNDER has hit twice and the third game was a push. The average combined score from those games was 209.6. It’s also worth noting that the UNDER has hit in six of the last eight games in this matchup.
My Best Bet for Rockets vs Thunder
Rockets -1
I’m siding with the better team. Plain and simple. If you’re going to give me a spread that is essentially a pick’em, home court is not enough to deter me from backing the Rockets. Houston has been so dominant since the all-star break and is hitting three-pointers like layups.
I do think the Thunder can pose challenges for the Rockets but Paul George hasn’t been the same since he hurt his shoulder and his three-point shooting has suffered as a result. I also think the Thunder give up too many good looks from behind the arc and if you do that against this team, you’ll lose by double digits.
