Game Preview: Rockets v Thunder

The Houston Rockets play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the
Western Conference first round playoffs, at Toyota Center on Sunday evening. The
Rockets finished the regular season by winning three of their last five games,
while James Harden was slowed by a sore wrist. Harden had a bit of a rough
stretch near the end of the season but seemed to get right before it ended, as
he tallied up a triple-double in the Rockets’ final regular season game. Harden
led the Rockets all season, averaging team-highs with 29.1 points, 11.2 assists
and 8.1 rebounds per game. Houston finished the season as the league’s
second-highest scoring team, with an average of 115.3 points per game, along
with the third-best point differential, at plus-5.7. The Rockets won the season
series against the Thunder, 3-1, where they won the final three games, after
they fell in the first meeting. The Rockets finished the season 30-11 at home.
Meanwhile, the Thunder owe nearly all their success this season to Russell
Westbrook, who led them the whole way, averaging a triple-double with 31.6
points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. Nonetheless, the Thunder got
great contributions from guys like Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter,
who all came up big multiple times during the season. Oklahoma City added some
depth with the mid-season acquisitions of Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott, who
could both come in very handy in the postseason. The Thunder average 106.6
points-for and 105.8 points-against, for a differential of only plus-.08. They
will certainly need to tighten up their defense and possible consider slowing
the pace, to beable to keep up with and have a chance against the fiery Rockets.
The Thunder finished the season with a 19-22 road record.