OKC Thunder gameday preview: MVP showdown courtesy of third meeting vs. Rockets
It was a tale of two offseasons for the Thunder and Rockets. While Sam Presti was able to beef up the Thunder’s rotation in a big way during free agency, the Rockets lost several key pieces of their rotation, including Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah a Moute, Tarik Black, and Ryan Anderson. Plus, Clint Capella is now out with a thumb injury and Chris Paul only recently came back into the rotation.
Even with Paul back, the Rockets are a far cry from the team that took the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference Finals last season. The Rockets are currently dead last in bench scoring with 14.8 points per game. And even though the Thunder are only a few spots above with 16.3 points per game, the collective work from the role players should help alleviate some of the headaches James Harden will give them.
James Harden's 40.6% usage rate would be the second highest on record, behind only Westbrook's 2016-17
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) January 28, 2019
However, Russ had a TS% of .554 that season. Harden's TS% is 70 points higher and would be the most efficient season by anyone with a usage over 35%, let alone 40 pic.twitter.com/NLwkLIviwt
One area, in particular, the Thunder should have the upper hand is rebounding. Second-chance opportunities should come early and often, as the Rockets surrender the second most offensive rebounds in the league with an opponent rebounding percentage of 30.7. This bodes well for the Thunder, who are first in the league in offensive rebounds with 12.2 per game.