NBA picks: Rockets vs. Thunder Game 6

With a second round date against the Los Angeles Lakers looming, the Houston Rockets look to close out business with the Oklahoma City Thunder after putting them through the ringer last weekend. The Rockets and Thunder take the court at 9:00 p.m. ET, and BetAmerica has the odds and picks for the big game.

Houston wiped the floor with Oklahoma City in Game 5

One of the big questions going into this series was if the Thunder would be able to take advantage of Russell Westbrook sitting out due to a strained quad. The best they could muster was stealing the last two games of the series and had to hope that the carried momentum would be enough to put the Rockets in a hole. That wasn’t the case as Houston dominated them in a 114-80 blowout win in game 5.

The Thunder are now facing the worst case scenario with Westbrook back in the lineup. Though he was pedestrian at best only posting seven points in 24 minutes, he’s only going to be fresher and putting in more minutes for the close out win. The ugly Game 5 saw Dennis Schroder ejected along with P.J. Tucker. Without Schroder, the Thunder had no hope of winning and now find themselves down 3-2 go against a full-powered Rockets squad.

OKC must force Harden into taking bad shots

Keeping their heads cool and rallying around Chris Paul has to be the focus of this pivotal Game 6. Paul needs to get this team composed. That means getting back to playing disciplined defense and getting James Harden to force shots outside his comfort zone. This task is going to be difficult with Westbrook on deck, but the Thunder are the kind of team that bring their best energy late. It will also help if they can shoot better than 15.2% from the three-point line.

The win provided the Rockets all the momentum they’ll need to close out the series. Harden hasn’t had any trouble getting points. Westbrook should be able to stretch the floor for Jeff Green and Robert Covington to drain open three-pointers. Unless the Rockets suffer another injury or just show up flat on game night, this one is theirs to lose.

The Thunder are badly outgunned by the Rockets 

The scrappy Thunder gave it as good as they could, but they’re seriously outgunned and do not have the experience the Rockets do in these situations. Too much has to go wrong here for them to force a Game 7, and when the Rockets are on their game, they are just too much to handle for this young Thunder squad. It won’t be the blowout we saw Saturday night, but the Rockets will win, cover and move on to a big showdown with the Lakers.

NBA pick: Rockets moneyline