Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Betting Preview & Odds! FREE NBA picks!

Written by rocketman | March 22, 2016

Going to do some NBA today and take a look at the game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will be played at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. TNT will carry this game, which has a start time of 8:00 pm EST.

Current betting odds for this game have the have the Thunder listed as 9.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 223.

Head-To-Head This Year: Houston won the first meeting 110-105 as 4.5 point home dogs… Oklahoma City won game two 116-108 as 8.5 point home favorites.  

The Houston Rockets come in having won just 2 of their last 5 games which includes a 109-97 loss at Atlanta on Saturday. Houston is tied with Dallas for the 7th slot in the West and both teams have just a game lead over Utah, which is in the 9th slot. layoff standing. The Rockets are led by James Harden, who averages 28.6 ppg, which is 2nd in the league, but he is nursing an ankle injury and is questionable for this game.  Dwight Howard has had a solid year, averaging 14.8 ppg, which is 2nd on the team, while leading them in rebounding at 12.1 rpg. Trevor Ariza averages 12.4 ppg, while Michael Beasley has put up 14.6 ppg in his eight games since joining the team to round out the double digit scorers for the Rockets. Overall Houston comes in ranked 4th league in scoring, putting up 106.1 ppg, while also ranking 16th in offensive FG% overall, 21st from long range and 27th at the charity stripe. Defense is where the problems arise for this team as they rank 27th in the league in points allowed, giving up 107.0 ppg, while also ranking 23rd in defensive FG%overall and 23rd in 3-point defense.On the road they have averaged 107.0 ppg on 44.8% shooting, while allowing 109.0 ppg on 47.6% shooting.

Trends: The Rockets are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 games playing on 2 days rest and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points, but just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Western Conference. The Over is 21-5 in their last 26 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game, but the Under is 9-4 in their last 13 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.

The Oklahoma City Thunder come playing some good ball as they have won their last four in a row and 6 of their last 8. The Thunder are now 48-22 on the year overall, including 27-9 and if the playoffs started today they would have the 3rd seed in the West. This will be a dangerous team in the playoffs. The Thunder have just 6 players that average 7.6 or more and are led by Kevin Durant, who averages 28.0 ppg, which is 3rd in the league and he also leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 rpg. Russell Westbrook is second at 23.8 ppg, while Serge Ibaka (12.6 ppg) and Enes Kanter (12.4 ppg) also average in double figures for the Thunder. Oklahoma City comes in ranked 2nd in the league in scoring, putting up 110.2 ppg,  while also ranking 3rd in shooting overall, 17th from long range and 6th from the charity stripe. The defensive numbers are pretty average as they come in ranked 16th in points allowed, giving up 103.0 ppg, while also ranking 6th defensive FG% overall and 8th in 3-point defense. At home this year the Thunder have averaged 109.0 ppg on 47.6% shooting, while allowing 100.0 ppg on 44.4% shooting.
Trends: The Thunder are are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games playing on 2 days rest and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game, but just 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games following a straight up win and 6-14 ATS in their last 20 games following a ATS win. The Over is 9-3 in their last 12 vs. the Southwest, but the Under is 46-19 in their last 65 games playing on 2 days rest.

 

 

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