The Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round playoffs on Tuesday at Orlando.

At the beginning of the season there was virtually no one who picked the Thunder to be a playoff team, never mind the fifth seed, especially after they saw the departure of, not only Paul George, but also their long-time star, Russell Westbrook. Nonetheless, Chris Paul, whom the Thunder received as part of the deal for Westbrook, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whom they received in the George deal, did an incredible job leading the Thunder to an impressive record, far surpassing just about every expectation. Despite dealing with some injury trouble through the season, Danilo Gallinari, who came over in the deal with the Clippers, also had a great impact on the Thunder's success and is healthy and ready for playoff action. Over three regular season meetings, the Thunder came out with two wins. The Thunder were one of the better defensive teams during the regular season, as they held opponents to an average of 108.4 points per game, which was sixth fewest in the league.

Meanwhile, the Rockets have the benefit of the league's top scorer leading their lineup, as James Harden enters the playoffs averaging a league-high 34.3 points per game, while shooting 44 percent form the field and 35 percent from long range. Unfortunately for Houston, Russell Westbrook (quadriceps) will miss Tuesday's action. Westbrook missed the last two games of the regular season restart and his timeline for return it not yet definite. On the plus side, Eric Gordon made his return to action during the last two games of the seeding tournament, and he put up double digits in scoring in around 20 minutes of action in each game. Austin Rivers had a notable performance during the seeding games, with a 41-point outing in a win over the Kings, and the Rockets will need him to bring that same energy to help make up for their missing star. The Rockets averaged 117.8 points per game, which was second most in the league, and they made an average of 15.6 three-pointers per game, which was most in the league through the regular season.