Fred VanVleet downplays budding Thunder rivalry with 3-word statement

Over the years, the OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets have formed one of the league's most entertaining rivalries.

From the 2012 trade that sent James Harden to Space City to their 2020 barnburner of a playoff series that came down to a last-second block on Luguentz Dort's would have been series-clinching 3-point attempt, both organizations have their fair share of history with one another.

Now, with Houston and Oklahoma City entering a new-age what with their current assortment of established stars, impressive budding young studs (Chet Holmgren and Alperen Sengun are clearly shaping up to be two of the game's top bigs), and playoff promise, it appears that this long-standing strife is bound to continue on for the foreseeable future.

However, though each of their respective fanbases may be amped up to see this inter-conference rivalry kick back up for the first time during the 2024-25 season, in a recent media session Rockets guard Fred VanVleet was found severely downplaying Friday night's matchup, going as far as to mereley describe it as: "It's another game."

Fred VanVleet downplays Thunder, Rockets rivalry ahead of Friday's game

"We played good teams last year [and] this year... We know the challenge that they bring and we know the type of team that we are. We're on our own grind and on our own road and we just gotta walk that road and keep chipping away," VanVleet said.

Despite this sentiment, objectively speaking, facing off against the reigning top-seed in the conference standings and, now, a team in a three-way tie for the best record out West with the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns is never just a regular game.

It's a battle for supremacy, and, considering both the Thunder and Rockets will be playing one another on four seperate occasions during this campaign and are expected to be vying for high-end playoff seeding come year's end, it's undoubtedly a series they each are looking to get off to a hot-start in.

As things currently stand, Oklahoma City sports a 7-1 record while pacing the league as one of its most dominant two-way groups, leading all teams in steals (13.4), blocks (7.3), opponent points (99.4), and defensive rating (96.5) while ranking second in overall net rating (15.5).

Meanwhile, Houston finds itself off to a rather impressive start to the campaign themselves, as they are stationed in just two spots behind the Thunder in the conference standings with a record of 5-3 while placing fourth in defensive rating (108.0) and fifth in net rating (7.5).

Over the last two years, the Rockets and Thunder have tied their season series at two games apiece. With this, it's all but guaranteed that both are looking to snap this streak and take command of the series in 2024-25, with their first opportunit to jump ahead coming Friday night at home at Paycom Center.