Houston Rockets running out of time, take on Thunder in OKC
The Rockets have beaten the Sonics/Thunder franchise 10 straight, and Houston needs to make it 11 tonight in Oklahoma City if it wants to keep playoff hopes alive.
The clock is ticking on the Houston Rockets' season as they head north across the Red River to meet Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Houston finds itself five games out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference with just 13 games remaining on the schedule. The Rockets will not find their hosts in a very hospitable mood for this contest after the Thunder fell to the Spurs on Monday.
With all that has gone wrong for Houston this season, it's a wonder the Rockets are still battling for a possible postseason berth. The 2009-10 campaign got off on the wrong foot, literally, when Yao Ming was lost for the season with surgery on his left foot, an injury he suffered in the 2009 playoffs.
And then there's the whole Tracy McGrady mess, with the disgruntled millionaire finally shipped off to the Big Apple in a February trade deadline deal.
The McGrady trade turned out to be the highlight of February for the Rockets who have been in a downward spiral since the beginning of the year. Houston went 5-9 in January, following that with a 4-8 February. A 7-4 record so far this month has kept Houston's hopes up, but just barely.
The contest on Wednesday marks the end of a three-game road trip for the Rockets that started with a 116-112 win at the Knicks before a 98-88 loss in Chicago to the Bulls on Monday.
Houston (36-33) was a 2 ½-point underdog in the game with the final never sniffing the 209-point total that was set. A disastrous third quarter, with the Bulls reeling off a 16-2 run, spelled doom for the Rockets who are 16-18 straight up and against the spread on the road this season.
The clock is also ticking for the Thunder, and while the urgency isn't quite like it is for the Rockets, Oklahoma City still finds itself feeling a little pressure. The Thunder have dropped three of its last four to sit tied with San Antonio currently for sixth in the Western Conference.
Tied for sixth doesn't sound that bad, but Oklahoma City (42-27) is just a game out of eighth place which would mean a first-round playoff matchup with the Lakers.
The Thunder's latest loss really hurt since it came at home Monday to the Spurs, 99-96. OKC carried five-point chalk into the game and jumped to a 34-25 lead after the first quarter. San Antonio then outscored the Thunder 56-42 over the second and third stanzas, paced by George Hill's career-high 27 in the contest. The loss wasted a 45-point evening by Kevin Durant, tying his season-high mark first set in a Jan. 31 win vs. Golden State.
Houston hasn't lost to the Thunder since the franchise arrived in Oklahoma City to start the 2008-09 season. The Rockets own a string of 10 wins over the club dating back to Jan. 2008. Houston has also covered all three wins this season, two as the favorite and one as small dogs the last time the two teams met in Oklahoma.
The 'under' has also cashed the previous two battles, closing 195½-196 in those matchups, and bringing the recent trend between the two clubs to 7-3 on the low side.
If Oklahoma City is going to break its losing string to Houston and cover the contest, the Thunder will have to do so carrying seven-point chalk into Tuesday's tip. The total opened at 206, a hefty number for these two considering the scoreboard has topped that figure once in the last nine meetings when the Thunder was known as the SuperSonics. Perhaps the books believe Durantula has another 45-point evening in him.
The Rockets have beaten the Sonics/Thunder franchise 10 straight, and Houston needs to make it 11 tonight in Oklahoma City if it wants to keep playoff hopes alive.
The clock is ticking on the Houston Rockets' season as they head north across the Red River to meet Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Houston finds itself five games out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference with just 13 games remaining on the schedule. The Rockets will not find their hosts in a very hospitable mood for this contest after the Thunder fell to the Spurs on Monday.
With all that has gone wrong for Houston this season, it's a wonder the Rockets are still battling for a possible postseason berth. The 2009-10 campaign got off on the wrong foot, literally, when Yao Ming was lost for the season with surgery on his left foot, an injury he suffered in the 2009 playoffs.
And then there's the whole Tracy McGrady mess, with the disgruntled millionaire finally shipped off to the Big Apple in a February trade deadline deal.
The McGrady trade turned out to be the highlight of February for the Rockets who have been in a downward spiral since the beginning of the year. Houston went 5-9 in January, following that with a 4-8 February. A 7-4 record so far this month has kept Houston's hopes up, but just barely.
The contest on Wednesday marks the end of a three-game road trip for the Rockets that started with a 116-112 win at the Knicks before a 98-88 loss in Chicago to the Bulls on Monday.
Houston (36-33) was a 2 ½-point underdog in the game with the final never sniffing the 209-point total that was set. A disastrous third quarter, with the Bulls reeling off a 16-2 run, spelled doom for the Rockets who are 16-18 straight up and against the spread on the road this season.
The clock is also ticking for the Thunder, and while the urgency isn't quite like it is for the Rockets, Oklahoma City still finds itself feeling a little pressure. The Thunder have dropped three of its last four to sit tied with San Antonio currently for sixth in the Western Conference.
Tied for sixth doesn't sound that bad, but Oklahoma City (42-27) is just a game out of eighth place which would mean a first-round playoff matchup with the Lakers.
The Thunder's latest loss really hurt since it came at home Monday to the Spurs, 99-96. OKC carried five-point chalk into the game and jumped to a 34-25 lead after the first quarter. San Antonio then outscored the Thunder 56-42 over the second and third stanzas, paced by George Hill's career-high 27 in the contest. The loss wasted a 45-point evening by Kevin Durant, tying his season-high mark first set in a Jan. 31 win vs. Golden State.
Houston hasn't lost to the Thunder since the franchise arrived in Oklahoma City to start the 2008-09 season. The Rockets own a string of 10 wins over the club dating back to Jan. 2008. Houston has also covered all three wins this season, two as the favorite and one as small dogs the last time the two teams met in Oklahoma.
The 'under' has also cashed the previous two battles, closing 195½-196 in those matchups, and bringing the recent trend between the two clubs to 7-3 on the low side.
If Oklahoma City is going to break its losing string to Houston and cover the contest, the Thunder will have to do so carrying seven-point chalk into Tuesday's tip. The total opened at 206, a hefty number for these two considering the scoreboard has topped that figure once in the last nine meetings when the Thunder was known as the SuperSonics. Perhaps the books believe Durantula has another 45-point evening in him.
