The Rockets welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Toyota Center
The Houston Rockets returned to Toyota Center and got a win. That’s been a consistent event this season, as Houston is 20-9 at home but 5-22 on the road.
The Oklahoma City Thunder started their tank a couple of years before the Rockets, but have returned to contender level faster than anyone expected. They are currently half a game back of first place in the Western Conference, and with a young squad they expect to be involved in the title chase for the next decade. Truly, it must be fun to be a Thunder fan, since the team has basically been bad for two total years of their existence.
Obviously, OKC’s youth is what many expect will be a difficulty in the postseason, but with their window just opening, they can afford to spend a postseason learning about the increased level that comes in the playoffs. How will they react when they’re in a close playoff game against Nikola Jokic? How will they respond to Luka Doncic or Steph Curry going supernova? That’s going to be a fun subplot.
The Rockets did beat the Thunder in Houston earlier this season. Once again, it should be interesting to see Alperen Sengun take on Chet Holmgren, the presumptive second place Rookie of the Year. And can the Rockets stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from driving and dealing? Probably not.
Finally, it’s been intriguing to see Ime Udoka playing Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson even more lately. Early in the season when Amen was hurt, there was plenty of “The Rockets took the wrong twin” talk (from dumb people), but now he’s proving that he can be a big part of Houston’s future.
Tip-off
7pm CT
How to Watch
Space City Home Network
Injury Report
Rockets
Tari Eason-OUT (leg)
Thunder
None
The Line (as of this post)
Looking ahead because we can
Tuesday night on the road against the Thunder