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Game 77: Houston Rockets At Oklahoma City Thunder Preview

By Brian K. Patterson

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Wow — what a week!

The Houston Rockets were able to get through a stretch of games that had them playing four games in five days with each being a back-to-back.

The fact that they came out with a 3-1 record is nothing short of amazing, considering that the opponents they faced — Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks — provided a considerable challenge for them.

The Rockets could’ve even beat the Toronto Raptors but that’s just water under the bridge.

The Rockets have faced a plethora of challenges with injuries to their front line with Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas out during this stretch as well.

And there the Rockets were — still finding ways to win despite the challenges that they were faced.

A team absolutely cannot win basketball games without at least a dominant presence in the paint because eventually teams that do have such weapons in their arsenal, will eat you up for lunch.

But the heady play of Josh Smith, Corey Brewer and the emergence of Clint Capela has helped the Rockets head to the finish line of the regular season regally, not haphazardly.

It was another exciting week of Rockets’ basketball but now it’s time for them to focus on their next opponent — the 42-34 Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder are playing catch up after their two biggest stars — Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant — missed considerable time this season because of injury.

Westbrook is chugging right along as his usual self with 11 triple-doubles to his credit on the season and Durant is back on the shelf after a brief return a few weeks back.

They’ve played well enough to position themselves to attempt to secure the No. 8 seed in the intense playoff seeding race in the Western Conference.

It won’t be easy as the New Orleans Pelicans are hot on their heels with them being one game back in the standings.

That Thunder team has little margin for error.

The Rockets last faced the Thunder Jan. 15 where they confidently were in control of the game, defeating them 112-101.

The Rockets lead the season series 2-0 and have a chance to sweep the Thunder out the door.

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Westbrook leads the Thunder in scoring (27.5 PPG), assists (8.6 APG) and steals (2.10 SPG).  Enes Kanter is the lead board-getter averaging 8.8 RPG.  Serge Ibaka is their top shot-blocker, averaging 2.40 BPG.

But let’s talk about what the Thunder do well.

They attack the glass and hard.  The Thunder are 2nd in the league as far as rebound rate, with the team rebounding 52.7 percent of any missed shots.  They’re also 2nd in offensive rebound rate (28.6) and 11th in defensive rebound rate (75.7).

They love to have the ball in their hands.  The Thunder are 7th in the league as far as PACE, averaging 98.2 possessions per game.  In contrast, the Rockets are ranked 2nd (99.2).

As far as injuries, Dwight Howard will likely see a slight uptick in minutes to about 24 per game for the time being.  Kostas Papanikolaou was at practice yesterday signaling that his return is around the corner.

Kanter had apparently tweaked his neck Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies but after being examined via x-ray, the results were negative and he said he feels fine.

With Durant done for the season, the team’s success rests on Westbrook’s shoulders and it will be interesting to see how the Rockets defend him.

I’d like to have James Harden on him at times but I think Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni are capable of doing their best to contain him.  I think those two are slightly underrated as far as defenders.

Kanter is the new kid on the block — he was acquired by the Thunder from the Utah Jazz right at this year’s February trade deadline.

He has played exceptionally well in his larger role with his new team and it will be up to Terrence Jones to do his utmost to limit his effectiveness.

Kanter has averaged 19.8 PPG and 12.6 RPG in the last five games.

In case you’ve been under a rock lately, there are two players — Beard and Westbrook — that feel that they’re the league’s most valuable player.  It will be gem to see these two fiery competitors go at it as they both are trying to lead their teams down the road of success.

Although this will be a nice match up for both, the Rockets have most of their bigs back and it will be tough for the Thunder to counter.

I don’t see a blowout but this should be a narrow win for the Rox because the Thunder will not let this game go easily with the playoff race being so tight in the West.

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Three Things to Watch:

1.  How well Terry/Prigioni/Harden? defends Westbrook

2. TJones vs. Kanter

3. Head-to-head match up of Beard vs. Westbrook

Prediction:

107-99 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets hit the road to take on the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for noon CDT.

The game will be televised on ABC and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME)/ESPN Radio 97.5 FM (KFNC).

Go Rockets!

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