What Oklahoma City Will Need to Fix in NBA Cup Bout Versus Houston

The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Houston Rockets in the NBA Cup semifinal. Here are some things they might consider throughout Saturday night's contest.

Dec 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) reacts after the end of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder have convincingly made their claim to the NBA Cup semifinal, defeating the likes of a fairly healthy Dallas Mavericks team in the quarterfinal to advance on to Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Oklahoma City has since fortified itself as one of, if not outright, the best team in the Western Conference thus far into the season---that is, with Isaiah Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren of course. We haven't even seen these two on the court at the same time, and yet their team is thriving in a tough conference.

Onto Saturday night, the Thunder will face the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets, a team they've split two games with so far this season. The Rockets got the best of them on Dec. 1, claiming a 3-point win in Houston behind a 38-point effort from Fred VanVleet.

This was a game where Hartenstein imposed some of his will with 13 boards, but that number couldn't uplift Oklahoma City over Houston's 51 rebounds on the night--and as a result, the Rockets shot nearly 40 free throws and made 30 of them, 11 more than the Thunder.

Free throws were a big part of the reason the Thunder fumbled that game and marked its then-fifth loss on the season. Beyond that, the Rockets were just gritty. Shooting a lesser percentage from the field than the Thunder, Oklahoma City allowing 15 offensive rebounds was the primary piece to its demise in that game.

They'll certainly have to flip that around on Saturday night, and Hartenstein will be tasked to have a big game against Alperen Sengun and co.

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