Opening Night is here, and it could go either way for the Rockets tonight. Houston will be up against last season’s reigning NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. FanDuel predicts a relatively easy victory for OKC with their money line at -270 and the Rockets’ odds set at +220 before tipoff. The spread is currently -7, and the over/under is at 227.5. 

Here are tonight’s projected starting rosters:

Houston Rockets:

PG: Amen Thompson (6’7)

SG: Kevin Durant (6’11)

SF: Jabari Smith Jr. (6’11)

PF: Alperen Şengün (6’11)

C: Steven Adams (6’11)

Oklahoma City Thunder:

PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) (6’6)

SG: Luguentz Dort (6’4)

SF: Jalen Williams (6’6)

PF: Chet Holmgren (7’1)

C: Jaylin Williams (6’9)

Coach Ime Udoka made an interesting move starting five of his tallest players tonight- likely to tighten up the Rockets’ defense against OKC’s much smaller first string. Houston is banking on a height advantage to snatch rebounds, block at the rim, and capitalize on second-chance shots. That’s the gamble. 

That said, the question is whether they’ll be quick enough to sprint down the court after a defensive rebound before the Thunder has time to set up. OKC’s roster’s equipped with quick minds and bodies- especially their offensive weapon Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Saying he’s hard to stop is the understatement of the season. 

According to many critics, MVP runner-up SGA should have received the accolade over Nikola Jokić, arguably the best player in the league last year. Shaq even said to Jokić in a post ceremony interview, “I thought that SGA should have been the MVP… no disrespect to you.”

In order to compete with OKC tonight, Udoka is going to have to make smart rotations, like pulling rising shooting star Reed Sheppard off the bench. He dropped 29 points on Atlanta and added six rebounds and six assists in the final preseason game. Sheppard made a vital contribution to Houston’s 4-0 finish and setting fan expectations.

Opening Night is crucial to set the tone for the season. It’ll give fans and the franchise an idea of whether Udoka’s defense-first strategy and rotations are enough to compete with other elite teams in the West, like Sacramento and Denver. 

If putting the supersized roster out there first proves inefficient in those first few plays, Udoka will have to adjust fast and throw Sheppard and Josh Okogie in to compete directly with SGA and Jalen Williams’s explosiveness. 

As long as the Rockets can keep up with OKC’s speed and spacing and use their size to their advantage on both ends, there’ll be no doubt that Udoka’s “go big first” angle is reliable. Either way, Houston’s defense and rotations will be put to the test tonight.