Oklahoma City Thunder (44-28, fifth in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Houston Rockets (44-28, fourth in the Western Conference during the regular season)
Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Thunder -1.5; over/under is 225.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Houston and Oklahoma City meet to begin series
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Rockets take on the Oklahoma City Thunder to open the Western Conference first round. Oklahoma City went 2-1 against Houston during the regular season.
The Rockets are 28-19 against Western Conference opponents. Houston leads the Western Conference averaging 117.8 points and is shooting 45.1%.
The Thunder have gone 27-19 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City averages 42.9 rebounds per game and is 30-5 when grabbing more rebounds than opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: James Harden leads the Rockets averaging 4.4 made 3-pointers, and is scoring 34.3 points per game while shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc. Jeff Green is averaging 13.7 points over the last 10 games for Houston.
Dennis Schroder is second on the Thunder averaging 4.0 assists while scoring 18.9 points per game. Danilo Gallinari is averaging 14.3 points over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 5-5, averaging 114.5 points, 38.4 rebounds, 22.7 assists, 10.5 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.6 points on 47.3% shooting.
Thunder: 6-4, averaging 109.2 points, 43.5 rebounds, 20.4 assists, eight steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points on 44.2% shooting.
INJURIES: Rockets: PJ Tucker: day to day (hand), Danuel House: out (toe), Russell Westbrook: out (rest).
Thunder: Luguentz Dort: day to day (knee), Chris Paul: day to day (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.
