Schroder’s 30 Points Power Thunder to Game 4 Win; OKC Given +132 Odds to Beat Rockets With Series Tied at 2-2

• OKC Thunder battle back from 2-0 down to even series with Houston Rockets
• Rockets all-star Russell Westbrook still hasn’t played in the series
• Read below to see if we think the Thunder are the series betting pick

Don’t look now, but suddenly we have a series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets.

A scintillating Dennis Schroder performance, with a big push in closing time from all-star Chris Paul gave the Thunder a 117-114 win in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series, making this a pretty compelling best-of-three.

Not surprisingly, the Thunder are closing the gap in the series betting price. This is a team that’s dead last in odds to come out of the West, against one of the betting favorites to win the West.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets Series Odds

Odds taken Aug. 24

Are we witnessing an upset in the making? Or are the Rockets going to be able to turn things around — with the expectation that at some point Russell Westbrook makes his debut and beefs up that Houston lineup? Let’s find the best bet for you.

Rockets Live & Die By The Three

This series has highlighted the thin line between three-point success and failure. In the first two games of the series, the Rockets were +24 and +21 in scoring from beyond the arc, and they won easily.

In OKC’s Game 3 win, they were only outscored by three points from three-point range. Game 4 was the full experience of long distance shooting. Houston was blistering hot to start the second half, drilling their first eight threes of the third quarter, building a big double-digit lead.

🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀@HoustonRockets knock down their first 8 threes of the 3rd Q! pic.twitter.com/kboQQv5Exx

— NBA (@NBA) August 24, 2020

But the Rockets went icy cold the rest of the way, hitting a lowly 5-for-26. That allowed the Thunder to trim the lead to just a point by the start of the fourth, and to eventually finish off the game for the W. On paper, 23 makes on an historic 58 attempts looks amazing at a 39.7% clip, but their shooting sunk them in this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=xjv6OHlekco&feature=emb_logo

OKC Relies On Guard Trio

The three-guard lineup of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder is when OKC is its most lethal. In Game 3, they combined to score 78. In Game 4, they tallied 72.

Schroder was unstoppable, particularly in the second half, making a series of tough shots to start the comeback and keep things tight throughout the fourth quarter. He finished with a team-high 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-7 from behind the arc.

Chris Paul was absolutely brilliant in the 2nd half today 🔥🔥

Vintage Point God. pic.twitter.com/taV6lcaQwe

— Hilltop Hoops (@HilltopNBA) August 25, 2020

Chris Paul, who was the league’s highest scoring player in crunch time all season, was savvy-good down the stretch, hitting his patented elbow jumper and finding his way into the paint for layups. SGA chipped in with 18 and 12 boards well.

While Danilo Galinari, Lou Dort and Steven Adams are doing their parts to contribute, it’s going to come down to these three guards generating offense.

Is Russ Returning?

If footage of a recent workouts is any indication, Westbrook should be able to return shortly in the series from a right quad injury. It’s safe to say that the Rockets could use him.

Russell Westbrook (right quad strain) remains listed as out for Game 4, but he has clearly increased his workload in recent days, as Mike D'Antoni had indicated. Here's footage from today's #Rockets practice. #OneMission pic.twitter.com/ht0qb65jQB

— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) August 23, 2020

While there is no questioning James Harden’s durability and skills — he poured in a game-high 32, including six threes — he’s the lone hub of playmaking on the court. The other Rockets aren’t offensive generators and rely on the Beard to get buckets or get them wide open looks.

Westbrook not only brings that talent, but at an all-NBA level. His return would tilt the series back in the Rockets’ favor, but if he’s not ready for Game 5, it just gives OKC another opportunity to take control of this series.

What’s the Best Bet?

You have to believe someone as competitive as Westbrook will find his way into the lineup for the Rockets. And when he returns, there’s no easing into  things: Russ is going all out. It’s that energy that the Rockets miss most, and the co-star Harden needs to ensure he doesn’t need to do everything.

While the Thunder are an amazing story and really one of the best positioned teams to be dominant in the future, it’s a surprise they’ve been able to hang with the Rockets. As hard as it is to watch Houston live and die by the three, that formula should be barely enough to sneak out of the first round.