The Houston Rockets will look to make it 10 wins out of 15 games so far in January when they travel to face to the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. James Harden will face off against his former team but despite being four places below the Thunder in the Western Conference, the Rockets will have the edge, having won all of the past six matchups between the two teams. The last of these came back in November when the Rockets won, 110-105.
Fear The Beard
James Harden will have to be at his brilliant best for the Rockets to overcome the Thunder tonight, who have won nine of their last 10 games. The shooting guard has been the Rockets' stand out player this season, with only Stephen Curry bettering Harden's 27.5 points per game. He has averaged 33.4 points per game during his team's impressive win streak against Oklahoma City, the team he came off the bench for for three years. When the two sides matched up earlier this season, Harden finished with 37 points for the game. The 26-year-old, who was drafted in 2009, recently reached 500 NBA games, and was selected for his fourth consecutive All-Star game this week, albeit as a reserve.
Battle Of The Offenses
It promises to be a high scoring game tonight, especially with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant involved. The former has averaged just shy of 10 assists a game, consistently setting up his partner-in-crime, Durant. The 27-year-old small forward is the league's fourth highest scorer, averaging 27.0 points per game. Oklahoma City, as a team, are the second highest scoring team in the NBA this season, averaging 109.3 points a game. They only sit behind the ever-impressive Golden State Warriors, who have averaged just over 115.
The Thunder's impressive duo, who are both Western Conference All-Star starters, will look to drive on in the game tonight, and make it three wins a row, having previously defeated the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, respectively. Across these two games, Russell Westbrook averaged 12.5 assists a game, and Kevin Durant averaged around 35 points. Prior to their surprise loss on the road to the Brooklyn Nets, the Thunder had won their eight previous games. During that win streak, Billy Donovan's team scored less than 100 points on just one occasion, when an impressive defensive display saw them defeat the Miami Heat, 99-74. Although the Rockets sit seventh in the Western Conference, they are the NBA's fourth highest scorers, with just shy of 105 points per game so far.
Injuries
Youngster and point guard Cameron Payne will miss the game for the Oklahoma City Thunder, having been ruled out with a concussion. Center Steven Adams, who returned from a two game absence against the Knicks on Tuesday, will also likely miss out due to an elbow injury, meaning Enes Kanter will likely come in and start.
The Rockets will be without one of their star men, as Dwight Howard, the league's third highest rebounder with 12.0, will be absent due to an ankle injury. This offers recently re-acquired forward Josh Smith a chance to impress, having scored 11 points and seven rebounds against the Spurs.
The game tips off tonight, at 7:00 P.M. CT.