James Harden and company are looking to close out their first-round against OKC Thunder on Monday night. If they manage to get a win on Monday night, then they would join Los Angeles Lakers to book a spot in Western Conference Finals 2020. But, it won’t be easy as their opponent, Thunder, will potentially try to improve their mistakes from Game 5.
The major reason why the Thunder fell behind in Game 5 was that they left much of defensive work to a rookie defender, Luguentz Dort. He was good, but couldn’t stand a chance against James Harden, who always found a way to get past him. The Rockets’ offense easily targeted Dort and allow James to be open.
Tip-off: 9 PM Eastern Time @ ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, near Orlando
An interesting historical statistic supports the Rockets’ win on Monday. When a team is tied until Game 4 in any playoffs series, then during 80% of those times, the winner of Game 5 ultimately won the series.
Rockets’ point guard/guard Russell Westbrook is the only player questionable for tonight’s clash. He did feature in the previous encounter, and it seems he may continue in Game 6 to help his team book a spot in Round 2. NBA fined forward P.J. Tucker (Rockets) and guard Dennis Schroder (Thunder) for their scuffle in Game 5. However, the NBA decided not to ban them for Game 6 instead of fine $25,000.
NBA Playoffs Western Conference Quarter Finals: Rockets V Thunder [Rockets Lead 3-2]
Game 1: OKC 108-123 HOU
Game 2: OKC 98-111 HOU
Game 3: HOU 107-119 OKC
Game 4: HOU 114-117 OKC
Game 5: OKC 80-114 HOU
Game 6: HOU OKC | 9 PM ET on 31/08
Game 7: HOU OKC | TBD 03/09 (only if necessary)
NBA Live Stream: How to Watch NBA Playoffs Online? TV Broadcast Schedule
TV: AT & T TV, NBA TV, ESPN, Fox Sports Florida, TNT, Sony SIX (India and South Asia)
Live stream: YouTube TV, Fubo TV, NBA Web, and App, Hulu, Fox Sports Go, ESPN +, Sony LIV [India]
Probable Line-Ups
Rockets: PJ Tucker, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, James Harden, Robert Covington
Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, Chris Paul, Steven Adams, Luguentz Dort
