Last night the Thunder suffered a pretty tough loss to the Houston Rockets, being outscored 13-1 to close the game and losing by one. This also happened after the Thunder went through a stretch on offense where they looked completely unstoppable.

James Harden led the way essentially running point for the first nine minutes of the quarter. The Thunder scored nine straight possessions with him running the show. With around three minutes left the Thunder went away from Harden. Scott Brooks said it was because the Rockets changed up their defense.

The Rockets did do this sending two players at Harden before Kendrick Perkins could come up to set a screen. It forced Harden into two tough plays having to take on two defenders and try and split them with the dribble.

So Brooks went back to the Thunder’s bread and butter, the Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook pick-and-pop action. It did not go well down the stretch with Westbrook committing a few costly turnovers and Durant missing the final shot.

Most will argue that the Thunder should have stuck with Harden but I feel he didn’t have anything left in the tank, in terms of fatigue and his repertoire.

Harden is great and I love him to death and even have called him the best player in the NBA to my friends when I get really excited watching him but there is not a lot of variance in his game. He is a great three-point shooter and penetrated off the pick-and-roll. When he drives he can hurt you with the finish drawing fouls and the pass. He doesn’t have much of a midrange game though and working within a stagnant fourth quarter Thunder offense, his moves ran out.

I like the Brooks saw this and tried to go to Durant-Westbrook but it may have even been too late. I think this is one of the hardest jobs of NBA coaches deciding when to go away from the bench if they are playing hot and return to your star starters.

I think it is almost always best to go back to your starters. One of the reasons the Thunder win games is because they are so great at closing games out whether it be with Durant or Westbrook. Harden is there too sometimes but more often for the stretch when Durant and Westbrook are out and he can carry the Thunder offense.

I am all for Harden running some point down the stretch but he ran the same thing for about ten straight trips down the floor. Any defense will adjust some to that and it was just unfortunate that the Thunder could not hang on to their lead after the Rockets did adjust.

I don’t blame Brooks for getting caught up in Harden’s hot hand as point and maybe sticking with it a little too long and I don’t blame Brooks for trying to go back to Durant and Westbrook. It really was just a weird loss and something the Thunder shouldn’t be too worried about.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Courtney Lee made a three-pointer with 15.1 seconds left to put the Houston Rockets ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-103, stunning everyone in the building.

Kevin Durant then missed a very tough 20-footer with two seconds left and Chandler Parsons all over him. Serge Ibaka rebounded the miss with enough time for a putback and what looked like a chance to win it, was not as the Rockets defense recovered to contest Ibaka enough forcing the miss.

The Oklahoma City Thunder led 102-91 with 2:29 left in the game. They waste an amazing effort from James Harden in the fourth quarter.

Harden ran the show for the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter and did so flawlessly. He scored nine points and orchestrated a perfect offensive attack via the pick-and-roll with Kendrick Perkins.

Even when Durant and Russell Westbrook returned to the game Harden continued to run the point and pick apart the Rockets defense. The Thunder would score on six straight possessions before finally Harden had a hiccup and turned the ball over with 3:44 left in the game.

Harden appeared winded at this point and the Thunder went back to Durant and Westbrook on offense. It did not work.

The top scoring duo in the league only scored four points in the fourth quarter, partly because of Harden running the show and partly because they just didn’t have it in the final minutes.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Westbrook was side-tracked by a pesky Goran Dragic and even picked up a technical with 48 seconds left in the game. In the final 1:05 Westbrook also committed two costly turnovers.

When it came down to taking the last shot down by one with 15 seconds left, it never felt good for the Thunder faithful. Durant was forced out to beyond 30-feet to receive the handoff from Westbrook. He lost his dribble trying to drive on Parsons and then hoisted up a prayer when he still had a few ticks left to spare.

The Rockets comeback happened so fast and truly stunned everyone, including the Thunder players.

The Thunder probably should have gone back to Harden a time or two in the last three minutes but he did appear exhausted having carried the load for much of the fourth and playing the last 18 minutes of the game.

That can be the problem with Harden coming off the bench is that he is basically asked to play 18 straight minutes without a break and might not be as fresh as he could be in the final minutes.

Either way Durant and Westbrook had their chances and the Thunder should not have let this one slip away.

Durant led the Thunder with 28 points but had just one in the fourth. Westbrook had 19 and Harden 16 points and seven assists.

Parsons and Lee each led Houston with 21 points.

The Thunder (32-10) are off tomorrow then will hit the road for the first time in six games Thursday night to take on Denver (23-19).

The Oklahoma City Thunder are tied 53-53 with the Houston Rockets at halftime tonight. The Thunder could not have started the game any better with the dunk by Russell Westbrook just after winning the opening tip.

It would be another slow start overall for the Thunder though.

Chandler Parsons has done a great job of checking Kevin Durant and is matching him on the offensive end. Parsons has 19 points and is 3-of-3 from deep and Durant leads the Thunder with 18 points and three three-pointers as well. Parsons also threw this dunk on Serge Ibaka in the first quarter.

Westbrook has 16 points and two assists with no turnovers. James Harden has just seven points and has had some trouble holding on to the ball with three turnovers.

The Rockets have just four turnovers in the game and have hit six threes. Oklahoma City still hasn’t gotten out on the break much in this one. If they can get a few more stops in the second half they should be able to pull away in this one.

Thomas Campbell-US Presswire

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
106.6 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.4 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
96.0 Pace (5th)
56.9 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (6th)

Rockets (1-game losing streak)
102.6 Offensive Efficiency (10th)
101.7 Defensive Efficiency (17th)
94.5 Pace (11th)
53.2 True Shooting % (7th)
50.4 Rebound Rate (13th)

The Thunder are coming off one of the easier wins of the season beating the Bobcats 122-95 two nights ago. James Harden scored a career-high 33 points in the win.

Harden, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to outscore the entire Bobcats team 55-40 in the first half of Saturday night’s win. That has been the trend of late from the Thunder, their Big Three carrying the scoring load.

The Thunder have played the Rockets three times already this year beating them the first two then losing 96-95 the last time. In that loss Durant had three chances to put the Thunder ahead in the final minute and failed to do so.

The Rockets are an overachieving team by old statistical measures and played the Thunder very tough. Rookie Chandler Parsons did a very nice job on Durant last game.

Kevin Martin had a big game scoring 32 as he torched Daequan Cook early and had the hot hand for most of the night.

The Thunder turned the ball over 21 times in Houston that night and got almost no production from anyone outside of the Big Three.

At home tonight expect better role player production and we’ll see if Harden continues his stellar play. Harden scored 17 points and had five turnovers in the last meeting.

With two days of rest the Thunder should be fresh while the Rockets have been in somewhat of a slump of late dropping six of their last seven. They’re battling injuries and will be without starting point guard Kyle Lowry for tonight’s game.

This is not a game the Thunder should lose. Expect to see them come out on point and play well. The emphasis early should be containing Martin and getting out on the fast break for some easy buckets.

The Thunder are favored by 11.0 as they close out their five-game home stand tonight.

Thomas Campbell-US Presswire

Kevin Durant had three chances to win it for the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night versus the Houston Rockets. The ball just didn’t agree with that kind of outcome.

Durant missed a running 10-footer over Chandler Parsons and Samuel Dalembert with three seconds left and Russell Westbrook the tip, both of which would have potentially won the game for the Thunder. It was the third miss for Durant in the final 23 seconds.

The Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves trailing 96-95 after Kevin Martin made two free throws with 23 seconds left in the game.

Following a timeout, Scott Brooks drew up a play to get Durant a look from three on the next possession that he missed. The rebound went out of bounds off Kyle Lowry however and Oklahoma City retained possession.

Then on the ensuing baseline out of bounds play, Brooks called the same play that gave the Thunder a victory in Golden State a few games ago but Durant missed that shot as well after getting a pretty good look.

Durant would get the offensive rebound still giving the Thunder another chance to take the lead setting up the final scene.

Durant finished with 33 points on 12-for-26 shooting but was noticeably out of rhythm for much of the night with the credit going to the rookie Parsons.

Westbrook also gave the Thunder a heck of a performance with 26 points on 11-of-25 shooting. The tandem combined for only 11 free throw attempts, possibly the missing ingredient that would have put them over the top in this one.

It was Martin who had the hot hand for Houston with 32 points despite coming off averaging only 7.3 points per game in his last six. Daequan Cook was matched up with him early and Martin got off to a nice start with 12 first quarter points. Let’s remember how much the Thunder are missing Thabo Sefolosha.

The Thunder turned the ball over 21 times and Houston matched Oklahoma City’s free throw attempts.

The Thunder can thank their bench led by James Harden for bringing them back after a first quarter that had the Thunder trailing 29-13.

Harden led a spirited charge by the second unit especially on the defensive end to help get the Thunder back into the game. Harden finished with 17 points and made three from beyond the arc.

Oklahoma City will not like the feeling of this loss with having so many opportunities to win it. The Thunder (22-7) can look to rebound in their next game Friday back at home against the Golden State Warriors (11-14).

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (2-game winning streak)
105.9 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.3 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
95.9 Pace (5th)

Rockets (2-game losing streak)
101.9 Offensive Efficiency (9th)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
95.0 Pace (11th)

The Thunder have won their last two games, both against Utah, and now sit atop the NBA with the best record at 22-6. Tonight they will play the Houston Rockets who are a similar opponent to the Jazz. The Thunder beat the Rockets twice already this year on back-to-back games played in the first week of January. Kevin Durant had big games in each of those as well as James Harden. The Rockets have a similar issue when it comes to guarding Durant that Utah had in that they will be putting young players on him with Chandler Parsons and Chase Budinger. The Rockets were without Kyle Lowry in both of those games however and he will be suiting up tonight.

Thunder keys to the game

1. Kevin Martin

Kevin Martin has been in one of the biggest slumps of his career the past few games and the Thunder need to keep it that way. He did not score a single point for the first time in six years last night and is only averaging 7.3 points per game over his last six games. Martin can get hot easily and can beat opponents from the outside, an area of weakness for the Thunder defense. Thabo Sefolosha is still day-to-day and unlikely to play so the defensive assignment will go to Daequan Cook whose forte isn’t on the defensive end.

2. The Thunder bigs

Oklahoma City’s big men have been great lately. Serge Ibaka has been a monster blocking shots and now leads the league in that department. Ibaka didn’t do much the first two times Houston played and has been much better lately. Luis Scola had a 28-point game when Houston played at home against Oklahoma City but Ibaka should be able to slow him down tonight. Scola is similar to Paul Millsap in his craftiness on offense so the Thunder bigs should be used to his style tonight. Kendrick Perkins has been productive of late too including a career-high six assists last night. His screen-setting to free Durant and get him going early will be crucial. Nazr Mohammed had a season-high 17 points the last time the Thunder played the Rockets. Oklahoma City wouldn’t say no to a repeat of that tonight.

3. Rebounding

The Thunder are on a back-to-back tonight and the Rockets are one of the better rebounding teams in the NBA. Houston is third in the NBA in total rebound rate and fifth in offensive rebound rate. Oklahoma City will need to be focused tonight to make sure they don’t get killed on the glass. Durant is the leading rebounder for the Thunder but will have to respect Parsons and Budinger on the perimeter tonight so won’t be able to hang around the paint to get defensive boards. Perkins and Ibaka need to be focused on boxing out every possession and especially so since Houston shoots a lot of threes. A good rebounding night will lead to fast breaking for one of the best teams in the NBA in transition and an easy win for the Thunder.

Prediction: Oklahoma City wins 109-106.