Friday's Western Conference Showdown Could Illustrate Refinement for OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder can avenge its road loss to the Houston Rockets from early December on Friday evening.

Mar 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) drives to the basket against the Houston Rockets during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Back in on Dec. 1, a 15-4 Oklahoma City team headed into a bout with the Houston Rockets.

Recently losing Chet Holmgren to an iliac fracture the month prior, Isaiah Hartenstein had stepped up to the plate and beared a lot of his burden as he himself returned from injury. With the players and head coach Mark Daigneault having to adjust and weather the storm of rotational inconsistency during this time, it certainly wasn't the most refined rendition of this team we've witnessed this season.

The Thunder were still impressive of course, but establishing a steady rhythm was something that hadn't quite been done to this point, and it led to Oklahoma City dropping its contest versus Houston on the road, 119-116.

With 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a 19-point, 13-rebound, four-assist performance from Hartenstein, this was watered out by a combined 58 points between Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun.

This had knotted the series at one apiece to this point, as the Thunder claimed a 19-point victory over the Rockets not long before that outing in early November, where Holmgren put up 29 points in the win.

There was a curve during this period though. Not much of a learning one, but this team needed to establish cohesion. As we see where this team is at now, it's not difficult to notice the Thunder established it very, very quickly.

Heading into this matchup's final contest of the season, Oklahoma City owns a 3-1 advantage in the series, with that road loss being its only downfall against the Rockets. The other three wins came at home inside Paycom Center.

Now in early April, the Thunder and Holmgren hold an opportunity to avenge that loss in a top-two Western Conference matchup, which could heighten some animosity between these two squads.

With Oklahoma City sitting with a 64-12 record, the team has all but mounted the best record in the entire NBA to claim home court advantage through the postseason. For Houston, sitting 14.5 games back from the Thunder in the second seed in the West with a 50-27 record, they'll look to make a statement against a rival who has boasted a historic regular season.