The NBA world is holding its breath in anticipation of a new league season that is set to begin with a bang. The reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will celebrate their first-ever title with a ring ceremony and a contest against the Houston Rockets on the first night of the regular season.
The Thunder are the reigning champs for a reason, dominating both defensively and offensively last year on the way to a historic championship run. However, the Rockets have reason to believe in their chances for this season, and in their opening game.
The Rockets are one of the only teams that can keep up defensively with the Thunder.
Oklahoma City is known for its elite point-of-attack defense with several elite defensive playmakers. Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams, and Lu Dort are top-tier defenders who make things difficult for opposing ball handlers.
The Rockets have the same level of defenders on their roster with Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Dorian Finney-Smith playing at the point of attack.
Houston causes many turnovers and can beat most teams to the other side of the floor for easy baskets at the rim.
The Thunder don’t turn the ball over often, so they usually aren’t victims of their same brand of basketball. The Rockets give the Thunder a unique challenge with their defense.
Each team’s offenses provide a separate challenge for the other’s defense.
Both teams have an elite scorer leading their teams in Kevin Durant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Durant is an elite mid-range scorer with unguardable height on his fadeaways and deep-range shots. Gilgeous-Alexander is just as proficient in the middle of the court, but he is also elite at getting to the rim and finishing around the basket.
The key factors will be around each team’s No. 2 scoring option.
Williams is a solid ball handler who can also distribute the ball to his teammates on the perimeter. Alperen Sengun is an elite distributor and a quality isolation scorer.
The creation abilities of these two players could be a key factor to the results of the game. Their respective defenses will be focused on the performance of the top scorers on either team. The others will be the key to the overall performance for both teams.
If the Rockets can match the Thunder’s intensity on defense and lean into their offensive production outside of Durant, they have an opportunity to spoil the Thunder’s first-ever ring ceremony on opening night.