Free Pick | Friday | NBA | Oct. 8

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#546 Oklahoma City Thunder -8 over Houston Rockets 7:10 PM CT

Oklahoma City took its first loss on Wednesday, losing 124-122 to Denver. The Thunder led by 11 at halftime but Denver had a huge 40-point 3rd quarter and wound up shooting over 42 percent from 3-point range. The Nuggets were +10 in frere throw attempts and did a great job on the defensive glass while Russell Westbrook had one of his best games of the past few seasons, scoring 29 and shooting exceptionally well filling in for Jamal Murray. That is the type of heroic effort it will take to beat the Thunder who in the first seven games not only hadn’t lost but hadn’t had a win by fewer than 12 points. 5-3 Houston enters this road test with back-to-back wins over the Knicks and Spurs while winning two of three road games on the season. The Rockets have strong numbers sitting +7.0 in average scoring differential but that is still eight points short of the average scoring differential for the Thunder. Houston won the last meeting between these teams in March in Oklahoma City in overtime, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play, and the Thunder won by 17 while a 10-point favorite last February in the last full strength meeting at home between these teams. Since the start of last season, the Thunder are 8-1 S/U with a winning ATS record as a home favorite off a S/U loss.