With Wednesday’s loss by Houston and a late win by Oklahoma City, the Rockets and Thunder are officially set to face off in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs. The series will be headlined by three All-Star guards and future Hall of Famers, two of whom were traded for one another.
Heading into the final day of the 2019-20 season, both teams are 44-27 and tied for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, However, given this year’s unique playoff environment in a “bubble” without fans, it doesn’t particularly matter which team finishes at No. 4 and No. 5.
The winner of that No. 4 vs. No. 5 series will then face off in the second round against the winner of the No. 1 (Los Angeles Lakers) vs. No. 8 series. Houston may prefer that side of the West bracket, since they’ve defeated the larger Lakers in two of their three meetings this season.
Had Houston been No. 3 or No. 6, their likely second-round opponent would have been the Clippers (47-23), who are the probable No. 2. Led by reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, the versatile Clippers defeated the Rockets twice this season, including a rout in March after Houston’s well-chronicled switch to a smaller lineup. By contrast, the Rockets went 2-0 versus the Lakers following their stylistic change.
As for the Rockets and Thunder, it won’t be short on storylines. Assuming he’s healthy (not a given), Houston star Russell Westbrook will be facing off against his former team from his first 11 NBA seasons. Oklahoma City is also the original NBA home of Rockets star James Harden.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are led by fellow All-Star guard Chris Paul — who was traded from Houston after two seasons in the blockbuster July 2019 deal that brought Westbrook to the Rockets.
Rockets to face the Thunder in the first round. Russell Westbrook vs. his old team. Chris Paul against the team that traded him.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) August 13, 2020
Oklahoma City took two of three head-to-head meetings from the Rockets in the 2019-20 season, though all were before Houston’s transition to a small-ball scheme in late January. Houston led by 15 with under seven minutes left in the final game before a bizarre collapse, headlined by a woeful 1-of-17 showing (5.9%) on 3-pointers by Harden.
Game 1 between the Rockets and Thunder will take place on Monday or Tuesday at the NBA’s Disney World complex near Orlando. The specific game dates and times will not be released until after the 2019-20 regular season officially concludes on Friday night.
