Houston Rockets At Oklahoma City Thunder: 1st Round Game 4: Sneak Peek Analysis
The Houston Rockets were battle-tested Friday but still remain only two wins away from advancing to the next series.
The Houston Rockets were battle-tested Friday but still remain only two wins away from advancing to the next series.
Despite the Rockets falling to the Thunder 115-113 in one gritty bout, our team stayed the course and it once again, came down to a few plays down the stretch.
The Thunder had their home crowd behind them and plus they needed the win to make this serie viable.
It’s likely that it will be only win they’ll get but it will interesting to see how the Rockets respond this afternoon.
The team is all set for prime-time on a nationally-televised game so that lights will be bright.
So who’s leading the charge for the Thunder?
Not surprisingly, Russell Westbrook leads the team in scoring (35.0 PPG), rebounds (11.3 RPG), assists (10.7 APG), steals (3.0 SPG. Andre Roberson leads in blocks (3.0 BPG).
Let’s talk about what the Thunder do well.
They still crash the boards offensively well. The Thunder are 4th in offensive rebound rate (23.9).
They’re taking care of basketball quite well. The Thunder are 1st in turnover ratio, with a meager 10.1 percent of their possessions ending with a turnover.
They’re using a lot of possessions. The Thunder are 5th in PACE, averaging 99.6 possessions per game, tied with the Rockets.
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Injuries:
Sam Dekker injured his left hand after getting tangled up with Chris Dudley and Patrick Beverley for a loose ball in the 2nd half of an April 2 regular season match up with the Suns. It was categorized as a broken hand and he was estimated to be out for the next three to four weeks. He did have successful surgery to repair the damage the following Monday. It has been three weeks since so his return should be sooner than later. Although he’s on the playoff roster, his usage remains to be seen when he does come back.
There are no injuries to report for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Source(s): Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, CBS Sports
Matchups to Watch:
- Patrick Beverley vs. Russell Westbrook
- James Harden vs. Victor Oladipo
- Trevor Ariza vs. Andre Roberson
- Clint Capela vs. Steven Adams
- Ryan Anderson vs. Dematis Sabonis
Prediction:
115-110 in a Houston Rockets’ win!
The Rockets are on the road to take on the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CDT.
The game will be televised on ABC and broadcast on NewsRadio 740 AM (KTRH), Sirius/SiriusXM Internet 890 and La Ranchera 101.7 FM (KNTE) & 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.
Go Rockets.