Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game preview

The obvious storyline tonight is Chris Paul’s return to Houston. Since Coty covered that earlier this weekend, I’ll strongly suggest that you read his piece on the subject, as it perfectly captures what this game means after James Harden and CP3 couldn’t win a championship together and the latter was traded for Russell Westbrook.

The Rockets have been a bit of a disappointment in the early going, with two tight home games where they were unable to deal a killing blow. They still escaped the New Orleans game with a win, but there is much to be desired from Houston’s defense and Harden’s shooting. Houston has gotten off to slow starts a few times in recent seasons, and with the integration of Westbrook and other new pieces, patient is probably required.

The Thunder have started the season 0-2 (and are playing the Warriors as I type this). Paul’s play has been inefficient, as he shot 3-9 with 5 turnovers against the Wizards. Afterwards, he took full responsibility for the loss, just as Harden did after the Milwaukee game.

Obviously, the Thunder also made a second trade during the summer in which they traded Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and eleventy billion first round picks.

Houston should be the favorites tonight at home against a team on a back-to-back. The Rockets have not put together a complete performance yet and this would be a nice time to see some things come together. Either way, it will be nice to see Chris Paul at Toyota Center again.

Tip-off is at 7pm CT