Complete guide to the Thunder, Rockets playoff series

Advantages

OKC Thunder

The Thunder’s biggest advantage is going to come on the glass. Mike D’Antoni’s spread-it-out offensive system makes for a lack of size down low, something the Thunder can exploit. Oklahoma City led the league in rebounds per game this season; Houston ranked eighth with over two less per game.

Related Story: Five reasons why the Thunder can beat Houston

This goes hand-in-hand with rebounding, but OKC has a clear size advantage over Houston in this series. With Sam Dekker out the Rockets only have two bigs coming off the bench, and with Ryan Anderson as the starting four there isn’t much scaring OKC’s carousel of big men.

Houston Rockets

While the Thunder’s advantages almost solely comes down low, the Rockets almost solely comes from the perimeter. Houston hit over 100 more threes than every other team in the NBA this season; Oklahoma City shot the lowest percentage from deep of any team this year. Three of their core players shoot over 37% from deep this season and they are guided by an offensive master in James Harden.

Don’t get it twisted though, because this team can do more than just shoot. The Harden/insert athletic big here pick & roll could be deadly against the more stiff Oklahoma City bigs. The key to stopping this play for the Thunder will be Steven Adams and whether or not he can return to his playoff form from last season. If he can guard Steph Curry in isolation on the perimeter he can handle a rolling Clint Capela.

Disadvantages

OKC Thunder

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Obviously any advantage for one side is going to be a disadvantage for the other so we won’t be redundant here. Plus I want to talk about the differences in the team’s benches.

While Mike D’Antoni has the luxury of bringing both Eric Gordon and Lou Williams off the bench, Billy Donovan only has one key reserve with playoff experience. And that player – Enes Kanter – may not even be able to play in this series. Kanter is too slow on the perimeter and not apt enough in pick & roll defense to guard Rockets’ centers. Basically this is going to be a series where playing time is dominated by the Thunder’s starters and the unknown Jerami Grant.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets come in with the 18th-ranked defense in the NBA. In the playoffs defense reigns supreme, yet Houston is built to outscore teams. They have a couple standout defenders in Patrick Beverley and Clint Capela, but everyone else is fairly easy to score on. Oklahoma City is going to have to move off-ball to keep Harden, Ariza and Anderson honest on defense; if they start ball watching the Thunder could find themselves with a myriad of easy scoring opportunities.