Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction: Will the Thunder win?

Prediction for the NBA match which will take place on December 7. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are approaching the match with Oklahoma with a series of defeats. This stretch has once again confirmed that Houston is a purely home team for today, as all three of the Rockets' failures were on the road. First, the team was beaten in the Texas derby by Dallas (115:121), then they failed to cope with reigning champion Denver (124:134). Finally, in Los Angeles, Houston lost to the Lakers for the second time this season - 97:107.

The losing streak pushed the Rockets past the 50% win mark of 8-9 and pushed them to the bottom of the play-in zone - tenth place in the West. Meanwhile, Houston's defensive rating was virtually unaffected - third-best defense in the league with a 107.2 points allowed per game average.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Before the championship began, it was impossible to assume that by the end of the first quarter, Minnesota and Oklahoma would occupy the top two spots in the Western Conference. The Thunder are 13-6, and the Timberwolves are 15-4.

In the last game, Oklahoma faced Dallas on the road and broke Luka Doncic's and company's resistance - 126:120. The second win for the Thunder in a row - before that, Mark Dano's team beat the Los Angeles Lakers at home - 133:110.

The rise of Oklahoma this season is largely due to the long-awaited debut of Chet Holmgren in the NBA - the second number of the 2022 draft. The big man, who missed last season entirely due to injury, has added efficiency to the team on both halves of the court - 17.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocked shots per game on average.

Expert Betting Tips

Houston is the third defense of the season, but the Thunder have the fifth offense, so we will not bet on TU here because Oklahoma has repeatedly confirmed that it can score 130+ points in a duel with any opponent. Let's take a win for the visitors. After all, they are the second and tenth teams in the Western Conference, and the odds don't reflect that. In addition, the Thunder have won their previous two head-to-head games against the Rockets.