Who is playing
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Houston Rockets
Current records: Oklahoma City 15-4, Houston 14-6
How to watch
- When: Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 7 pm ET
- Where: Toyota Center – Houston, Texas
- TV: Fan Duel SN – Oklahoma
- Continue: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try it for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $15.30
What to know
The Rockets will be in front of their home fans on Sunday, but a look at the layout shows they could use that home-field advantage. They are set to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:00 pm ET at the Toyota Center with a little extra rest. Both have allowed few points on average (the Rockets: 105.8, the Thunder: 103.2), so any points scored will be well earned.
On Wednesday, the Rockets needed a little overtime to defeat the 76ers. They won against Philadelphia by a score of 122-115. The victory marked back-to-back wins for Houston.
The Rockets’ victory was a true team effort, with many players putting in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jalen Green, who was 12 of 20 en route to 41 points plus seven rebounds and two steals. In addition, Green also recorded a three-point shooting accuracy of 66.7%, which is the highest since November 2023. Another player who made a difference was Alperen Sengun, who had a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds .
Meanwhile, the Thunder began their matchup with the Lakers on Friday with three straight wins, but will begin their next game with four. They walked away with a 101-93 victory over Los Angeles.
It was another big night for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who nearly had a double-double with 36 points and nine assists. The contest was the ninth in a row with at least 30 points.
The Thunder broke the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That’s a new trend for them: They were averaging 9.1 offensive rebounds per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they’ve averaged 12.4.
Houston has been doing well recently, winning nine of their last 11 matchups, giving a nice boost to their 14-6 record this season. As for Oklahoma City, they increased their record to 15-4 with the victory, which was their third in a row on the road.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: the Rockets haven’t given the ball away easily this season, having averaged just 12.5 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Thunder (currently ranked first) are struggling in that department, as they’ve averaged just 11.2. Given these competing strengths, it will be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
While Rockets and Thunder fans were happy after their last outing, their bettors probably weren’t as neither team covered. Looking ahead, the Thunder are expected to win a close contest unless someone blows the buzzer. This contest will be their twelfth consecutive contest as a favorite (so far in this stretch they have a 5-6 record against the spread).
Odd
Oklahoma City is a slight 1.5-point favorite against Houston, at last report. NBA Odds.
The bettors were in line with the betting community in this case, as the game started with a 1.5 point difference and stayed there.
The over/under is 220.5 points.
See NBA selections for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Houston and Oklahoma City have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- November 8, 2024: Oklahoma City 126 vs. Houston 107
- March 27, 2024: Houston 132 vs. Oklahoma City 126
- February 27, 2024: Oklahoma City 112 vs. Houston 95
- February 25, 2024: Oklahoma City 123 vs. Houston 110
- December 6, 2023: Houston 110 vs. Oklahoma City 101
- February 15, 2023: Oklahoma City 133 vs. Houston 96
- February 4, 2023: Oklahoma City 153 vs. Houston 121
- February 1, 2023: Houston 112 vs. Oklahoma City 106
- November 26, 2022: Houston 118 vs. Oklahoma City 105
- December 1, 2021: Houston 114 vs. Oklahoma City 110
