The Houston Rockets play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Toyota Center on Saturday night.
Oklahoma City Thunder Betting Preview
The Oklahoma City Thunder finally suffered their first defeat of the season as they had their four-game win streak snapped by the Mavericks in a 120-96 road defeat on Wednesday. Ajay Mitchell led the team with 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 points while Isaiah Hartenstein tallied 10 points with 14 rebounds. As a team, the Thunder shot just 41 percent from the field and a miserly five of 32 from the 3-point line as they fought hard to keep the scores close in the first half, but their long list of injuries caught up to them in this one as they got nothing from their second unit. Jared McCain also struggled as he shot just three of 13 from the field and zero of six from the 3-point line to finish with 10 points and three turnovers.
Houston Rockets Betting Preview
Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets kicked off their season with a nice five-game win streak but they are now looking to bounce back after getting stopped in their tracks by the Mavericks in a 116-111 road defeat last night. Kevin Durant led the team with 28 points on nine of 20 shooting, Jabari Smith Jr added 22 points, Fred VanVleet scored 16 points while Amen Thompson chipped in with 15 points, six assists and four steals. As a team, the Rockets shot 42 percent from the field and seven of 29 from the 3-point line as they dominated the second quarter by 31-17 to lead by 11 points, but they allowed the Mavericks to hang around and it cost them in the fourth quarter where the Rockets leaked 40 points to suffer their first loss of the season.
Oklahoma City v Houston Free Prediction
The Thunder are still missing Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, while the Rockets have ruled out Steven Adams, Reed Sheppard and Alperen Sengun again. The Thunder have shown through the past few seasons that they can still pile on the wins no matter how many players are out injured, but they got smashed by the Mavericks in their last outing and I think they will struggle again in this matchup. The Rockets are playing their second game of a back to back set which isn’t ideal, but they were rolling before last night’s defeat and I think they will be up for this contest. Give me the Rockets to bounce back with a sounce back with a comfortable win and cover at home in this spot.