The final Saturday night prime time game of the regular season will feature the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the Houston Rockets on ABC. The Rockets, of course, are in first place in the Western Conference, and have long since clinched the best record in the league. But the Thunder, on the other hand, are suddenly fighting for their playoff lives in seventh place in the West.
This is the third and final regular-season meeting between the two teams. Each team has come away with one win in their head-to-head meetings so far.
How to watch Thunder at Rockets
- Date: Saturday, April 7
- Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Toyota Center -- Houston, Texas
- TV: ABC
- Streaming: WatchESPN
- Follow: GameTracker
SportsLine odds
Check Sportsline's NBA pick sheet for all your daily odds.
Analysis
After their busy offseason that saw them bring in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, the Oklahoma City Thunder never expected to be in the position they're in heading into Saturday night's showdown with the Houston Rockets -- in desperate need of a win to even stay in the playoff race.
In seventh place entering the game, the Thunder could find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture depending on how Saturday's slate of games goes. If the Thunder lose and the Nuggets beat the Clippers, the Thunder would drop to ninth place in the West with just two games to play.
The Rockets won't have much motivation, as they've already clinched the best record in the league, but they're still the Rockets, and the Thunder will have to be sharp in order to get a much-needed win.
