Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets, American Basketball League Postseason, Match Prediction

Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets square off in the 6^th game of their postseason encounter of American Basketball League 2019-10. 

Team Preview 

The equation is simple for Oklahoma City Thunder – win or go. Houston Rockets are the road team as they face the fifth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder to wrap the postseason series. Houston Rockets are back on the winning track and they escaped the third straight defeats. After winning the first two games at home, Thunder added two wins in the bubble to square the series. In Game 5, Houston opened the series with a 3-2 timeline and one more win saw them into the Western Conference semifinal. After the break in the postseason due to the protest, the Rockets made a fluent start in Game 5 and led by 10 points in the first quarter but Thunder took away the 2^nd quarter 24-31. 

Going into the second half, Rockets dominated over Thunder and took away the 3^rd and 4^th quarters with a big margin. After the victory of 80-114 in the 5^th game, the door is slightly closed for Oklahoma City. James Harden led Houston with 31 points while Robert Covington contributed 22 points in the victory. For Thunder, Adams and Bazley added a double-double off the bench in the loss. It was a pure dominating day for Houston as they shot 43% from the floor, including 19 out of 48 from the 3-point range, and forced 18 Oklahoma City turnovers in the victory. Thunder dominated in the offensive rebounds with 55-58 but still, it was not enough. The loss with a 34-point margin is a big loss for Thunder and they require a strong game on Monday to stop the freshened Rockets. It looks like an easy win for Houston. 

Possible Starting Lineups 

Houston Rockets

Russell Westbrook (PG), James Harden (PG/SG), Eric Gordon (SG/SF), Robert Covington (SF/PF), P.J. Tucker (C) 

Oklahoma City Thunder 

Chris Paul (PG), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (PG/SG), Lu Dort (SF), Danilo Gallinari (SF/PF), Steven Adams (C) 

Team Performance (Postseason) 

Key Players 

Oklahoma City Thunder 

Chris Paul (PG): 20.4 points, 6.8 rebounds 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SG): 17 points, 6.4 rebounds  

Houston Rockets

James Harden (SG): 31.8 points, 6.6 rebounds 

Eric Gordon (SG): 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds