The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Houston Rockets on Friday night in a matchup of two top Western Conference contenders; at least they were considered that preseason. The Rockets come in at 25-23 which has them in the seventh in the West while the Thunder come in at 35-13 which has them at number three in the West.
The Rockets have been all over the place this season and that would be why they have been hovering around .500 all year. The Rockets are coming off a game in which they were beaten by 31 points in San Antonio. That game was preceded by a three game winning streak and this recent stretch has been a microcosm of their season.
The Rockets are led by last year's MVP runner up James Harden who is having another very good year. Harden is averaging 27.5 points, 6.9 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game through 48 games and is headed to his fourth consecutive All-Star game. Harden has been playing particularly well lately as he has scored 20 plus points in each of his last seven games and has had two triple-doubles in that same time span.
The Rockets made a trade a week ago to bring back Josh Smith and through four games he hasn't found his shot but he is still finding a way to contribute. Smith was huge for the Rockets a season ago when they made it to the Western Conference Finals so they are hoping he can bring the same value this year. Smith is shooting just 28 percent from the field and 15 percent from three so far but he is rebounding (4.8 RPG) and passing (3.3 APG) well.
For the most part the Rockets are expected to be healthy for this one. Donatas Motiejunas is still out with a back injury but is getting closer to a return and Sam Dekker is also out after having back surgery but he too is getting close to a return.
While the Rockets have been inconsistent this season, the Thunder have mostly been consistently great all year. Recently the Thunder have won nine of their last 10 games with the one loss in that stretch coming against the lowly Brooklyn Nets. In most years a 35-13 record would get a team a lot of recognition but the Warriors and Spurs have been that good that they have stolen all the publicity. The Thunder are out to prove they belong in that tier of elite teams out West.
Oklahoma City is led by its two All-Pro players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who were both recently named All-Star starters. Durant and Westbrook currently rank second and third in the NBA in PER this season with Westbrook (28.9) slightly ahead of Durant (28.2). Both players are behind Stephen Curry but they have been playing at an extremely high level.
With Durant and Westbrook almost sure things, the key player for the Thunder is Enes Kanter who comes off the bench. Kanter is averaging 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and has a 22.9 PER but his defense has been extremely poor. Typically when Kanter plays well the team wins but since he is a negative on the defensive end they need big-time production from him on offense in his 20.6 minutes per game.
On the injury front, the Thunder will be without backup point guard Cameron Payne in this game as he is dealing with a concussion that he suffered on Wednesday. Payne is in the leagues mandated protocol and will likely miss some time. Also, Andre Roberson is out as he is dealing with a knee sprain that will keep him out at least three weeks.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8 P.M. Eastern time on NBA TV and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Rockets radio broadcast go here and for the Thunder radio broadcast go here.
