The Oklahoma City Thunder have come back from a 0-2 series deficit and are now tied with the Houston Rockets, 2-2. Will the Thunder lead the series for the first time? Or will the Rockets regain the upper hand? Check out our preview of his game below.
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Betting Preview for the Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets NBA Playoffs Round 1 Game 5 on August 29, 2020
Where: Walt Disney World, Orlando
When: Saturday, August 29, 2020, 6:30 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma City Thunder (+5) vs. Houston Rockets (-5) – view all 2020 NBA lines
TV Broadcast: TNT
Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (+5)
Regular Season Record: 44-28
The Thunder are not going away. Down by 15 points in the third quarter, the Thunder launched a massive attack and ended Game 4 with a 117-114 win against the Rockets. Dennis Schroder had another one of those nights, as he led the Thunder with 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field with four 3-pointers. Chris Paul provided some key baskets in the clutch and finished with 26 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Oklahoma City drained 48.8 percent of the team’s field-goal attempts, the best showing for the Thunder in the playoffs. With the trio of Paul, Schroder, and Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder have been able to keep up with James Harden and company in the last two games. The Thunder have also played some great defense on Harden with Luguentz Dort sticking to him. Dort has become of a Harden-stopper, which is now a crucial asset for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder 2-0 against the spread over the last two games of the series.
Betting on the Houston Rockets (-5)
Regular Season Record: 44-28
The Rockets have to recover their swag. After going up 2-0 in the series, the Rockets are now dealing with a reinvigorated Thunder squad that somehow managed to weather Houston’s torrid outside shooting in Game 4. The Rockets hit 23 triples on 39.7 percent accuracy in the loss to Oklahoma City. James Harden scored 32 points to lead all Houston scorers to go with 15 assists. Eric Gordon put up another great scoring effort, as he chipped in 23 points, while Danuel House Jr. finished with 21 points. However, the Rockets’ bench was barely felt, as it was outscored by Schroder and the Thunder’s second unit by a huge margin, 43-13. After scoring 22 points in Game 3, Jeff Green only managed 10 in Game 4. He will have to keep producing more than than, especially while Russell Westbrook is out with a quad injury. As of the moment, Westbrook is yet to be cleared to play, so his status remains unchanged for Game 5.
The Rockets are 4-2 against the spread in their last six games as the home team.
Writer’s Prediction
The Thunder win, 112-109.
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