NBA Picks 4/4 – OKC Thunder @ Houston Rockets

By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The top two teams in the Western Conference square off tonight as the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (64-12) visit the Houston Rockets (50-27) tonight at Toyota Center. This will be the fifth and final regular season meeting between the Western Conference powers. Oklahoma City won three of the first four, winning all three matchups at home. The Rockets won the lone game played in Houston 119-116 on Dec. 1. Oklahoma City is a 7-point favorite and the total is 231.5.

The red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Detroit Pistons 119-103 at home in their previous game on Wednesday night. It was their 11th straight win. MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander amassed 33 points (10-26 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 11-12 FT), six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks across 35 minutes for the Thunder. Jalen Williams added 23 points (9-17 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 3-6 FT), five rebounds, three assists and a block in 33 minutes. Chet Holmgren registered a monster stat line of 22 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and two steals over 33 minutes.   

Houston is coming off a 143-105 shellacking of the hapless Utah Jazz (16-61) at home on Wednesday night. The Rockets knocked down 19 three-pointers and shot 54 percent from the floor in the win. Houston broke the game open in the second quarter outscoring Utah 37-20 and taking a 70-46 lead into halftime. The Rockets picked up their 50th win of the season with the victory over the Jazz. 

Jalen Green finished with a team-high 22 points (7-15 FG, 4-7 3Pt, 4-6 FT) for the Rockets. He sat the entire fourth quarter. Dillon Brooks added 21 points (9-16 FG, 3-8 3Pt) and two rebounds in 28 minutes. Brooks picked up his 16th technical foul after kicking Collin Sexton in the groin area. Brooks’ 16th technical foul results in an automatic one-game suspension meaning he will not be available for tonight’s contest against Oklahoma City. 

GAME STORYLINES: OKLAHOMA CITY

Since the 2020-21 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have made a remarkable transition from one of the worst franchises in the NBA to arguably the best. The Thunder finished 22-50 in 2020-21 and were able to improve to 57-25 last year in just 3 seasons. Oklahoma City’s expeditious rebuild was ignited by the upward All-NBA trajectory of superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and two years of impeccable drafting in 2021 and 2022. Oklahoma City was able to land Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins and Jaylin Williams in those two drafts. 

All six players contributed to a 16-game improvement in the 2022-23 season (24-58 to 40-42) followed by a 17-game improvement in 2023-24 where Oklahoma City finished as the No. 1 seed in the loaded Western Conference. Oklahoma City’s 57 wins last season was their most since the 2013-14 campaign when they finished 59-23 and advanced to the Western Conference finals. Prior to the season, Oklahoma City traded talented guard Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for defensive stopper Alex Caruso.

Oklahoma City’s ascension continued this season as they enter tonight’s game with the best record in the NBA at 64-12. They’ve tied the franchise-record for wins in a season which was set by the 1995-96 Seattle Supersonics, who advanced to the 1996 NBA Finals. If the Thunder can win their remaining six regular season games, they’ll become the third team in NBA history to win 70 games, joining the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be the catalyst for Oklahoma City and is producing the best season of his brilliant seven-year NBA career. The 26-year-old, three-time All-Star is averaging 32.8 points, 6.3 assists, 5 rebounds, 2.1 threes, 1.7 steals and 1 block per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 37.3 from long distance and 90.1 percent from the free throw line across 73 games. Gilgeous-Alexander is the favorite to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. He’d be the first Thunder player to win the award since Russell Westbrook in 2017.

All-Star Jalen Williams (21.3 pts, 5.4 rebs, 5.2 asts, 1.6 stls, 1.8 threes, 48.1% from 2), power forward Chet Holmgren (14.8 pts, 8.4 rebs, 2.4 blks, 1.2 threes, 48.1% from 2), versatile swingman Aaron Wiggins (11.7 pts, 3.8 rebs, 1.7 threes, 49.1% from 2, 39% from 3) and center Isaiah Hartenstein (11.2 pts, 10.8 rebs, 3.9 asts, 1.1 blks, 57.2% from 2) have all been fantastic alongside Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. The 23-year-old Williams has improved in each of his three years in the NBA. He was named an All-Star for the first time his year. Holmgren — the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft — has rebounded nicely to have a very good season after missing 39 games with a pelvic injury.  

GAME STORYLINES: HOUSTON

After a moderately successful 9-year run, the Houston Rockets parted ways with superstar James Harden in January 2021 after he became disgruntled with the direction of the franchise. Not surprisingly, Houston struggled mightily without Harden as the next 2 and a half seasons would see them finish with records of 17-55 in 2020-21, 20-62 in 2021-22 and 22-60 in 2022-23.

Despite the abysmal play on the court from 2021-2023, Houston made a number of terrific personnel moves that ultimately led to an 18-game improvement last year (41-41) and what will be a 10-15 game improvement this season. Houston’s first series of franchise-changing moves occurred in the 2021 NBA draft when they selected Jalen Green with second overall pick and then Alperen Sengun at No. 16. In the 2022 NBA draft, the Rockets selected Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. with the third overall pick. Green and Sengun have been the Rockets two leading scorers for the past two seasons. 

The Rockets made three more moves in the 2023 offseason that cemented their turnaround. In April 2023, they hired Ime Udoka as head coach. As a fairly young coach (45), he led an inexperienced Boston Celtics squad to the 2022 NBA Finals but was shockingly let go a few months afterwards due to an inproper relationship with a female staff member. Despite the controversy, Udoka’s excellent coaching was widely credited for Boston’s 2022 Finals run. 

Houston followed up the Ime Udoka hire by selecting the G-League’s Amen Thompson with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 June Draft. The Rockets final offseason transaction was signing NBA Champion point guard Fred Van Vleet to a three-year, $130 million contract in June 2023. All three moves were tantamount to this season’s success.

Houston’s excellent decision-making from 2021-2023 has led to their most wins since the 2018-19 season (53) and a likely No. 2 seed in the stacked Western Conference. The outstanding play of Jalen Green (21.5 pts, 4.7 rebs, 3.4 asts, 2.9 threes), Alperen Sengun (19 pts, 10.5 rebs, 4.9 asts, 1.1 stls, 49.7% from 2), Fred VanVleet (14.3 pts, 5.6 asts, 3.9 rebs, 1.6 stls, 2.7 threes) and Amen Thompson (14 pts, 8.2 rebs, 3.7 asts, 1.4 stls, 1.3 blks. 55.5% from 2) amplify the Rockets great personnel choices as they are the team’s top four scorers. Ime Udoka is also getting universal praise for his ability to get the Rockets to play as a cohesive unit in just his second season as head coach. 

The 23-year-old Jalen Green has averaged nearly 20 points per game in three of his four NBA seasons. Houston has relied on the young guard for big scoring outputs and he has delivered all season. The 22-year-old Sengun will average a double-double for the first time in his career this season. He’s posted 44 double-doubles on the year. The improvement of second-year forward Amen Thompson is also a factor in the Rockets surprising success this season. Thompson is establishing himself as one of the NBA’s most versatile players with his ability to stuff the stat sheet offensively and defensively on a nightly basis. 

THE PICK: ROCKETS (+7)

Oklahoma City is red-hot at the moment and will finish with the best record in the NBA but I like the upstart Rockets at home in this spot. I think they’ll give an inspired performance in front of a raucous home crowd and keep this close or pull off the upset. Take the Points and the Rockets tonight!