Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets Prediction, 10/22/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets

Date: Friday, October 22, 2021

Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX

TV: Bally Sports OK

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+3)

Toyota Center is the site where the Houston Rockets (0-1) will attempt to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1) on Friday. Houston opens as 3-point favorites. The over/under is set at 225.5.

The Thunder took the court against the Jazz and took a loss by a final of 107-86 in their last contest. Oklahoma City walked away from the game having earned a 37.4% FG percentage (34 out of 91) and knocked down 7 of their 35 shots from downtown. From the charity stripe, the Thunder knocked down 11 of their 18 shots for a percentage of 61.1%. In the matter of hauling in boards, they collected 50 with 15 of them being offensive. They also dished out 19 dimes for the contest while forcing the other team into 5 turnovers and getting 4 steals. Regarding the defense, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 44.0% from the field on 40 out of 91 shooting. Utah earned 53 dimes and had 18 steals for the game. In addition, Utah totaled 41 rebounds (12 offensive, 29 defensive) and had 2 rejections. Utah finished the game shooting 86.7% from the charity stripe by knocking down 13 of 15 tries. They buried 14 out of their 47 attempts from 3-point land.

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Darius Bazley is a guy who came through for the game. He ended up walking away with 15 points on 5 of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 30 mins and also totaled 7 boards. Bazley finished shooting 35.7% from the floor and also distributed 2 dimes.

Oklahoma City enters this matchup after finishing with a win-loss record of 0-1 last year. They averaged 105.0 pts per contest (28th in basketball) while going 44.1% from the floor. The Thunder hit on 33.9% from downtown (857 of 2,529) and 72.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City pulled in 45.6 rebounds per contest and accumulated 1,588 dimes last season, which was 27th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They lost possession by turning the ball over 16.1 times per game and as a group committed 18.1 fouls per contest. On the defensive end, the Thunder were able to force 13.1 turnovers per game and they drew 18.6 fouls. They were 22nd in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,856 surrendered over the course of last season. The Thunder defense allowed an opponent FG percentage of 47.3% (3,123 of 6,603) and they surrendered 47.1 boards per contest as a unit. They conceded 36.4% on shots from downtown while they were 26th in basketball in PPG allowed (115.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the Rockets went home defeated by a final of 124-106 when they played the Timberwolves. The Rockets pulled down 29 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 41 for the game. They turned it over 24 times, while getting 13 steals for this contest. The Timberwolves were called for 18 fouls in this contest which got the Rockets to the charity stripe for a total of 22 tries. They were able to knock down 15 of those for a rate of 68.2%. With respect to 3-point shots, Houston converted 11 out of their 33 attempts (33.3%). Overall, the Rockets shot 40 out of 88 from the floor which had them at 45.5%. The Rockets permitted the Timberwolves to make 42 out of their 87 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 48.3% in this game. They shot 42.1% from beyond the arc by connecting on 16 of 38 and finished the contest at 24 of 31 from the free throw line (77.4%). Concerning rebounding, Houston permitted Minnesota to get 33 in total (13 on the offensive glass).

Alperen Sengün ended up being a factor for the Rockets for the matchup. He made 3 out of 4 in this game for a rate of 75.0%, and tallied 6 rebounds. Sengün scored 11 points in his 19 minutes on the court and had 2 dimes for the matchup.

Houston had a mark of 0-1 last season. The Rockets committed 19.5 fouls per contest and they connected on 74.0% from the charity stripe. They earned an assist 23.6 times per contest (24th in the league) and they gave up possession 14.7 times per game. Houston accumulated 7,833 pts throughout last year (108.8 per game) and they averaged 42.6 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Rockets connected on 44.4% from the field, which ranked 28th in basketball. The Rockets were ranked 27th in basketball in points given up per game with 116.7. They surrendered 25.8 dimes and 47.6 boards per game, which ranked them 21st and 30th in basketball. The Houston defense allowed 38.2% on shots from behind the 3-point line (966 of 2,532) and opponents connected on 78.3% of their foul shots. They forced 14.7 turnovers per game and let teams shoot 48.0% from the field (27th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City (+3)

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