Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game preview

The Semifinals of the NBA Cup are tonight in Las Vegas!

The biggest question for the Houston Rockets is whether or not they can sustain this run.

The win on Wednesday night over the Golden State Warriors offered catharsis. As a Warriors fan would probably say, “It was Houston’s Super Bowl.” After 15 straight losses, the Rockets finally stole some late-game mojo back from Golden State and took down the dragon that had plagued the franchise for a decade. Instead of having to travel to Dallas for a regular season contest against a red-hot and pissed off Mavericks squad, the Rockets get to play on national television in Las Vegas.

Now, just as the Rockets are trying to revel in their newfound freedom, they have to turn their attention to an objectively better team. No matter which metric you prefer, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a top 8 offensive team in the NBA. On defense, you could pick any defensive rating out of a hat and it would still tell you that the Thunder are easily the best defense in the league. Houston is second-best, which is how the Rockets fought to a win against OKC in the second matchup between these teams. The first matchup was a blowout in the Thunder’s favor.

It’s been a fun run to the NBA Cup Semifinals, but the ride ends tonight. After Wednesday night’s emotional win, I don’t think the young Rockets can get up enough for this one. And if the jitters we saw against Golden State on national television are any indication, playing on ABC (yes, the Rockets are playing their first non-cable regular season game in forever) is going to rattle this team early and often. Plus, the Thunder are just a better team. The good news is that Houston will have four days off before taking on the Pelicans next.

We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!

Tip-off

7:30pm CT

How To Watch

ABC and Playback

Injury Report

Rockets

None

Thunder

Chet Holmgren: OUT

Jaylin Williams: OUT

Ousmane Dieng: OUT

Adam Flagler: OUT

Alex Ducas: GTD

The Line (as of this post)

OKC -5.5

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Schedule TBD, but either in Tuesday in Vegas or Thursday at home against New Orleans