James Harden in town tonight as his 25-23 Houston Rockets take on the Thunder. Hard to believe, but Harden’s Rockets have won five straight against the Thunder in the series. Granted, three of those came last season during the injury riddled season, but still surprising considering Houston hasn’t been anything special itself during its Harden era unless you count a Clipper collapse in last year’s second round as a change of culture in Houston.
Horrible start for Houston this season as some injuries and the acquisition of Ty Lawson contributed to the firing of head coach Kevin McHale. But slowly the Rockets have crawled upwards and now find themselves as the No. 7 seed in the West coming off a loss at the hands of Golden State. Another possible plus is the return of Josh Smith, who actually helped the Rockets last spring in their mini run to the Western Conference Finals.
Houston still relies heavily on the three and this can’t bode well for OKC tonight as they’ll be without Andre Roberson to guard Harden. Cam Payne will miss as well because of the NBA’s concussion protocol procedure. With Payne out that means DJ Augustin will have to play minutes and Houston probably isn’t a good matchup for this to occur.
So who will guard Harden seems to be the challenge OKC as a team will have to answer tonight. With Roberson out it would seem likely Kyle Singler’s minutes will increase substantially tonight and beyond.
With Roberson out—the challenge for OKC from a defensive standpoint will be substantial as OKC faces Houston, Washington, Orlando, and Golden State in the next four games. Steph Curry has already predicted a Warriors’ win over OKC on Feb. 6th just to be clear of how confident the Warriors feel about themselves currently.
One would think Billy Donovan might try Westbrook, Waiters and maybe even Singler against Harden at times tonight depending on foul troubles. Harden getting to the line is always a key if he’s getting there with regularity.
Should be a scoring fest at Chesapeake Energy Arena tonight with the winner scoring at least in the 120’s or so.
Durant, Westbrook, and Co. will have to score in runs, and Westbrook in no way can allow himself to get goaded by Patrick Beverly in this one tonight.
For the offensive minded this one should be right up your alley.