Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA

Kevin Durant's Houston Rockets, beaten for the archetypal clip this play successful Dallas successful the NBA Cup radical opener, big an injury-hit Oklahoma City Thunder astatine Toyota Center aboriginal connected Sunday UK clip with Alperen Sengun's backmost occupation inactive unresolved.

Houston are 5-1 and 2nd successful the Western Conference, the Thunder are 3rd connected 4-1, and the 2 sides person not yet met successful the 2026-27 regular season.

How are the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder shaping up?

Houston's lone decision came erstwhile Dallas turned an 11-point shortage precocious successful the 3rd 4th into a 116-111 win, with Kyrie Irving scoring 35 points and Cooper Flagg 33.

The Rockets did not play severely capable to beryllium written off, since they collected 20 violative rebounds and Durant scored 28, but helium missed 4 escaped throws and the squad changeable 7-of-29 from three.

Before that Houston had won 5 successful a row, including a 132-100 rout astatine Milwaukee that Sengun missed and a 114-110 triumph astatine San Antonio connected the archetypal nighttime of their erstwhile back-to-back.

Oklahoma City's commencement has been built connected defence, with opponents scoring connected lone 45.7% of their possessions, the lowest complaint successful the league, portion the Thunder's ain offence, which makes lone 10.0 threes a game, has been acold little convincing.

The numbers favour Houston astir everyplace but the 1 country that defines Oklahoma City, since the Thunder let less points and are stingier per possession, portion the Rockets pb the efficiency, passing and shooting rows by wide margins.

That spread widens successful this venue, due to the fact that Houston person scored 124.0 points and conceded 110.0 crossed 2 location wins, portion the Thunder person scored 106.0 and conceded 112.0 successful their 2 roadworthy games.

Both Houston location games topped 220 points successful full and neither Oklahoma City roadworthy crippled did, with the Thunder's roadworthy scoring sitting astatine 62.0 points per archetypal fractional and 44.0 per 2nd half.

The counterweight is rest, since Houston play the 2nd nighttime of a back-to-back, their 2nd of the run aft winning some games of the first, portion Oklahoma City person had 2 days disconnected since losing 96-120 successful Dallas.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder squad quality and rotations

Oklahoma City person mislaid 3 starters from their opening 3 games wrong a week, with Jalen Williams retired aft country connected a breached fibula and dislocated ankle, Chet Holmgren retired for 8 to 10 weeks with a patellar tendon teardrop and Cason Wallace retired aft enarthrosis surgery.

Oklahoma City bushed Phoenix 125-114 successful their archetypal crippled without Williams, Holmgren and Wallace earlier the dense decision successful Dallas, and Alex Caruso, Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic are besides out, which leaves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein arsenic the apt starting five.

Houston's representation is little settled, arsenic Sengun has missed 2 games with debased backmost soreness and is questionable, Reed Sheppard is besides questionable with a backmost ailment and Steven Adams is retired with a calf problem.

If Sengun cannot play, expect Clint Capela to commencement alongside Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant and Jabari Smith Jr, the radical that began successful Dallas.

The matchups that could determine Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander against Durant is the headline, with Durant facing the franchise helium near successful 2016 and Gilgeous-Alexander having beaten Houston successful treble overtime successful past season's opener.

Beyond the 2 stars, the rebounding conflict matters due to the fact that Houston's second-chance points kept them successful the crippled successful Dallas, and Mitchell indispensable present make for others arsenic good arsenic people with truthful galore Thunder guards and wings missing.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder subordinate props to watch

What happened erstwhile the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder past met?

Oklahoma City opened past play by beating Houston 125-124 successful treble overtime, with Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 35 points and Sengun 39, earlier Durant fouled retired with the Rockets starring successful the 2nd other period.

The Thunder past won 111-91 astatine Toyota Center successful January adjacent though Houston out-rebounded them 60-44, due to the fact that the Rockets changeable lone 33.7% from the field, and Houston answered with a 112-106 triumph successful Oklahoma City successful February.

The sides conscionable again connected 27 December successful Houston and 13 January successful Oklahoma City, 2 much dates connected the NBA schedule that volition amusement however acold this wounded database has reshaped the Thunder.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder tips and prediction

Houston are the sounder broadside due to the fact that their scoring, shot question and location grounds each constituent successful 1 direction, and the back-to-back and Sengun's uncertainty are existent but did not halt an offence that scored 132 astatine Milwaukee without him.

Oklahoma City's defence and Gilgeous-Alexander should support the borderline adjacent for a while, though 3 starters abbreviated and with a weaker bench, the Thunder are improbable to prolong it for 48 minutes against a squad that scores this freely, and their lone roadworthy triumph came astatine San Antonio portion their lone roadworthy decision astatine Dallas was by 24 points.