Rockets vs. Thunder NBA Cup Preview, Odds, Prediction (Dec 14)

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Houston Rockets vs. OKC Thunder NBA Cup Preview, Odds, Prediction (Dec 14)

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Rockets vs. Thunder game delivers the battle for the NBA Cup finals.
Houston beat the Golden State Warriors to enter the NBA Cup semis.
OKC leads the Western Conference NBA standings with a 19-4 record.

Houston Rockets aim to take away the conference top spot from the OKC Thunder in the near future. Beating Shai and the boys in the NBA Cup semis would be a great mental boost, and it would also put pressure on the team from Oklahoma.

Check out the other NBA Cup semis: Hawks vs. Bucks Preview, Odds, Prediction

How To Watch

When: Saturday, December 14, 8:30 PM ET
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
How To Watch: TNT

NBA Cup Odds

Team	Odds	Spread	Totals
Houston Rockets	+180	+5.5	212.5
OKC Thunder	-215	-5.5	212.5

Game Preview

The Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90, showing that they know how to play low-scoring affairs. Although their offense wasn’t that impressive, the defense was rock-solid, stopping one of the best-scoring teams in the league.

Houston’s players average 13.9 offensive boards per game, which is the league-high, and that’s why they have plenty of second-chance points.

Since the start of 2022-23 season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 108 30+ point games out of 167 total played (64.7% of the time).

That's the most 30+ point games in the NBA in that span, with Luka Dončić in 2nd with 103 and Giannis Antetokounmpo in 3rd with 97. pic.twitter.com/PwaGQAQmtJ
— NBA (@NBA) December 13, 2024

OKC has the highest NBA differential between scored and allowed points per game, 12. That’s why the Thunder holds the top spot in the West.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30.2 points per game, and is the No.4 in the top-scorer rankings. He also has 6.3 assists and is much better at delivering dishes than in the past. However, we need to notice that the Canadian significantly improved his defense and is now a legit NBA MVP contender.

Rockets vs. Thunder Head-to-Head

There were two games this year between the Rockets vs. Thunder. Both teams defended their home-court edge, 126-107 for OKC and 119-16 for the Rockets.

Rockets vs. Thunder Prediction

The Rockets are on a great rise, and given their better frontcourt, we will pick them to triumph here and advance to the NBA Cup finals.

NBA Cup pick: Rockets win

Nikola Velickovic Contributor

Nikola is one of those rare fanatics who dedicated their lives to sports. In the last five years, he has worked as a betting tips writer for several companies. Also, he does coverage of various sports events, and besides his betting skills, he is a sports news contributor on multiple websites. Here at VegasOdds, Nikola is in charge of the NBA, Champions League and the world’s most famous soccer competition the English Premier League.