Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game preview

In case you haven’t heard, the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing some great basketball these days.

OKC has won nine of their last ten contests, with the only blemish coming in a tight loss to Boston. Paul George has led the team in scoring in nine of those games, and Russell Westbrook has finally taken a step away from shooting and has redoubled his efforts as a playmaker first and shooter second. It’s worked so far, and Russ is on an eight-game streak of triple doubles. He’s still not shooting particularly well, but OKC hasn’t need him to do so. Plus, for the Thunder to succeed in the playoffs, they need him to work his jumper back into respectability.

Houston will have newly-acquired wing Iman Shumpert available to play tonight. The last time these teams met was on Christmas, when newly-acquired (at the time) Austin Rivers hit two huge three pointers in the fourth quarter to help Houston complete the upset. The Rockets won that game without Chris Paul, but they did have Clint Capela that day.

With Capela out, expect the Thunder to feat on rebounds. OKC is second in offensive rebound rate and sixth overall. If Houston doesn’t crash the defensive glass, this game could turn into an easy one for OKC.

Tip-off is at 7:30pm CT on ABC