The Houston Rockets are looking to win their first game of the postseason as they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night in Texas and Jeremy Lin is in action after possibly missing the game due to a chest injury suffered in Game 2, which also saw Russell Westbrook get hurt and he had surgery and now will miss the rest of the playoffs for the Thunder.
James Harden gets the chance to try and defeat his old team, as the Kevin Durant will now be the only superstar for the Thunder as they try to go 3-0 on the Rockets, who are hosting a playoff game for the first time in years. Houston made a great comeback in Game 2 after being down by double digits and lost 105-102 and now Lin and Harden will try to keep their team alive in the first round with some scoring, as they are the top duo now that Westbrook is down. Westbrook will miss the rest of the playoffs after the surgery and his injury came when a Houston player collided with his knee while trying to get a steal, leaving him a torn meniscus in his knee.
The Rockets signed Lin to a three-year, $25 million deal and brought in Harden in a trade from the Thunder, giving the team a new complexion right before the season started. Harden would like some revenge against his former team, but he will need to do better on Wednesday after scoring just 20 points and getting dogged by the defense all night. Durant will have some momentum off his performance from game one and he also just appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Lin has been the story for the Rockets this season along with Harden, but both players struggled at times in the first game, as Lin had as many turnovers as points and assists, while Harden scored less than half he did the first time the two teams met in the regular season, which was a win for the Rockets against his old squad. The two teams are high scoring and so far in four meetings at least one team has scored 120 points, including on Sunday when the Thunder routed Houston 120-91.
The Rockets ranked second during the year in scoring with 106 points per game and were seventh in rebounding, but they allowed over 102 points per game and will need to do better on Wednesday. The team ranked sixth in assists behind Lin, but the Thunder has the advantage with Westbrook. OKC is ranked third in scoring and sixth in rebounding while their defense is stellar at ninth with 96 points per game allowed.
