The Houston Rockets only have 106 games of playoff experience on their roster, while the Thunder have 621 games. But, the Rockets have James Harden and he is going to be out to stick it to the Thunder for dealing him last summer. That being said, I expect the Rockets to put up a good fight in this series. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: 24-year old Russell Westbrook is one of the most exciting players in the NBA as he likes to attack the rim with ferocity. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 34.9 minutes, 23.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Westbrook has now played in 43 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 37.6 minutes, 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He is likely going to abuse Jeremy Lin.
24-year old Jeremy Lin was up and down in his first year with the Rockets. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 32.2 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. This will be Lin’s first shot at the playoffs, as he missed the Knicks’ games last year in the playoffs due to injury.
EDGE: HUGE FOR THE THUNDER
SHOOTING GUARD: 28-year old Thabo Sefolosha is a defensive specialist, but he also shot well from long range this year. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 7.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He has now played in 52 games (43 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 19.5 minutes, 4.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal per game.
23-year old James Harden is going to look to make the Thunder pay for trading him to the Rockets. He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 25.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Harden has played in 43 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 29.9 minutes, 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Out of Durant and Westbrook’s shadow….it is time for Harden to really shine.
EDGE: HUGE FOR THE ROCKETS
SMALL FORWARD: 24-year old Kevin Durant just keeps getting better and that has to be scary for the rest of the NBA. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 38.5 minutes, 28.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Durant has now played in 43 games (all starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 41.6 minutes, 28.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.
24-year old Chandler Parsons really stepped up in his second year with the Rockets. Parsons played in 76 games (all starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 36.3 minutes, 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game. This will be Parsons’ first shot at the playoffs and he’s going to have his hands full trying to slow down Kevin Durant.
EDGE: HUGE FOR THUNDER
POWER FORWARD: 23-year old Serge Ibaka really improved his offensive game in 2012-13 and the Thunder are going to need that to continue in the playoffs. Ibaka played in 80 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 31.1 minutes, 13.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 3.0 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 43 games (37 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 28.2 minutes, 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.9 blocked shots per game.
22-year old Greg Smith moved into the starting lineup late in the 2012-13 season and he played pretty well. Smith played in 70 games (10 starts) this year for the Rockets and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Rockets would probably be happy with Smith if he hits the glass and plays well on defense in this series.
EDGE: THUNDER
CENTER: 28-year old Kendrick Perkins is going to be counted on to rebound and play defense in this series. Perkins played in 78 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 25.1 minutes, 4.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Perkins has now played in 105 games (99 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 26.1 minutes, 6.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.
26-year old Omer Asik really played well for the Rockets in 2012-13. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 10.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Asik has played in 21 games (3 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 13.1 minutes, 1.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.
EDGE: ROCKETS
BENCH: The Thunder have a lot more playoff experience off the bench than the Rockets do and they will look to take advantage of that in this series. 30-year old shooting guard Kevin Martin has James Harden’s old role of being the offensive assassin off the bench. Martin played in 77 games (0 starts) this year for the Thunder and he averaged 27.7 minutes, 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Martin has played in 6 games (1 start) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 32.8 minutes, 14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. 32-year old PF/C Nick Collison will be the first big man off the bench for the Thunder. He played in 81 games (2 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 19.5 minutes, 5.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Collison has played in 54 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 20.2 minutes, 5.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. 38-year old point guard Derek Fisher could also have a big role off the bench for the Thunder in this series. He played in 33 games (9 starts) for the Mavericks and Thunder this year and he averaged 17.4 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He has now played in 229 games (158 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 27.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. 28-year old SG/SG Ronnie Brewer could get some P.T. in this series due to his defense. Brewer played in 60 games (34 starts) for the Knicks and Thunder this year and he averaged 14.2 minutes, 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He has played in 46 games (17 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.4 minutes, 5.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. 23-year old point guard Reggie Jackson and 26-year old center Hasheem Thabeet could also get in on the action in this series. Jackson played in 70 games (0 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 14.2 minutes, 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Thabeet played in 66 games (4 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 11.7 minutes, 2.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.
Outside of 30-year old SG/SF Carlos Delfino and 31-year old SG Francisco Garcia, the Rockets have no playoff experience coming off the bench. Delfino played in 67 games (5 starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has played in 36 games (7 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 14.3 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Garcia played in 58 games (20 starts) for the Rockets and Kings and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has played in 6 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 6.8 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. 24-year old rookie point guard Patrick Beverly will also likely get to play a lot in this series. He played in 41 games (0 starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 17.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. 22-year old power forward/center Donatas Motiejunas played in 44 games (14 starts) as a rookie for the Rockets this year and he averaged 12.2 minutes, 5.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. 21-year old rookie power forward Terrence Jones played well late in the year for the Rockets. He played in 19 games (0 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 14.5 minutes, 5.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. 22-year old rookie power forward Thomas Robinson was s0-so this year. He played in 70 games (0 starts) for the Rockets and the Kings in which he averaged 15.1 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
EDGE: THUNDER
COACHING: 47-year old Scott Brooks keeps getting better as a coach every single year. He led the Thunder to a 60-22 (73.2%) record in 2012-13. Brooks is now 24-19 (55.8%) in the playoffs as an NBA head coach.
55-year old Kevin McHale will be making his first venture into the playoffs as an NBA head coach in 2012-13, but he has plenty of experience as a player. He led the Rockets to a 45-37 (54.9%) record this year.
EDGE: THUNDER
PREDICTION: THUNDER IN SIX GAMES
