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Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets: NBA live scores

22nd March, 2016
Tip-off: 11am (AEDT)
Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
TV: None in Australia
Online: NBA League Pass
Betting: Thunder $1.20, Rockets $4.75
Last meetng: 29/01/2016 - Thunder 116 defeat Rockets 108 @ Chesapeake Energy Arena
Russell Westbrook, the former MVP. (Wikipedia Commons)
22nd March, 2016
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The Oklahoma City Thunder can move one step closer to locking in a home quarter-final when they take on the Houston Rockets, who are still in a struggle to qualify for the playoffs. Join The Roar for live scores from 11am (AEDT).

The Thunder have now officially become the third team in the Western Conference to qualify for the post-season.

With a record of 48 wins and 22 losses, there is daylight between them and the San Antonio Spurs, who sit in second, but a quarter-final with home-court advantage is starting to look likely.

The Memphis Grizzlies, who are in fifth position, sit 7.5 games behind the Thunder, and with only 13 games to play it would take a calamity of errors for OKC to drop that many games.

The Thunder come into this one having won four in a row, and are starting to rediscover their form after some worrying losses.

The Rockets meanwhile, sit seventh in the Western Conference and are fighting two battles. The first of those is to qualify for the playoffs. To do that, they need to stay equal with the Dallas Mavericks, as both teams are sitting on 35 wins and 35 losses. Furthermore they have to hold off the Utah Jazz, who are just a game behind.

The next challenge for the Rockets is catching and passing the sixth-placed Portland Trail Blazers. Houston are only half a game behind them, and avoiding a quarter-final series against the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors is key.

They have been in patchy form, having won three of their last six. Beforehand, they had won three in a row, with all those games on the road.

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The sides have matched up twice this year. The Rockets got up by five in the first match with James Harden scoring 37 points before Kevin Durant scored 37 points getting the Thunder home by eight in the second.

Harden and Durant are prolific scorers, and whoever can get the better of the match-up here will take their team a long way to winning. The biggest problem for Harden and the Rockets though is Russell Westbrook, who is a stat-sheet filler and has a great combination with Durant.

Prediction
Home advantage should see the Thunder get over the line against a desperate Rockets outfit.

Thunder by 7.

Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this match from 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.

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