Kevin Durant's Houston Rockets, beaten for the first time this season in Dallas in the NBA Cup group opener, host an injury-hit Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center early on Sunday UK time with Alperen Sengun's back problem still unresolved.

Houston are 5-1 and second in the Western Conference, the Thunder are third on 4-1, and the two sides have not yet met in the 2026-27 regular season.

How are the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder shaping up?

Houston's only defeat came when Dallas turned an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter into a 116-111 win, with Kyrie Irving scoring 35 points and Cooper Flagg 33.

The Rockets did not play badly enough to be written off, since they collected 20 offensive rebounds and Durant scored 28, but he missed four free throws and the team shot 7-of-29 from three.

Before that Houston had won five in a row, including a 132-100 rout at Milwaukee that Sengun missed and a 114-110 win at San Antonio on the first night of their previous back-to-back.

Oklahoma City's start has been built on defence, with opponents scoring on only 45.7% of their possessions, the lowest rate in the league, while the Thunder's own offence, which makes only 10.0 threes a game, has been far less convincing.

The numbers favour Houston almost everywhere except the one area that defines Oklahoma City, since the Thunder allow fewer points and are stingier per possession, while the Rockets lead the efficiency, passing and shooting rows by clear margins.

That gap widens in this venue, because Houston have scored 124.0 points and conceded 110.0 across two home wins, while the Thunder have scored 106.0 and conceded 112.0 in their two road games.

Both Houston home games topped 220 points in total and neither Oklahoma City road game did, with the Thunder's road scoring sitting at 62.0 points per first half and 44.0 per second half.

The counterweight is rest, since Houston play the second night of a back-to-back, their second of the campaign after winning both games of the first, while Oklahoma City have had two days off since losing 96-120 in Dallas.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder team news and rotations

Oklahoma City have lost three starters from their opening three games within a week, with Jalen Williams out after surgery on a broken fibula and dislocated ankle, Chet Holmgren out for eight to 10 weeks with a patellar tendon tear and Cason Wallace out after shoulder surgery.

Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 125-114 in their first game without Williams, Holmgren and Wallace before the heavy defeat in Dallas, and Alex Caruso, Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic are also out, which leaves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein as the likely starting five.

Houston's picture is less settled, as Sengun has missed two games with low back soreness and is questionable, Reed Sheppard is also questionable with a back complaint and Steven Adams is out with a calf problem.

If Sengun cannot play, expect Clint Capela to start alongside Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant and Jabari Smith Jr, the group that began in Dallas.

The matchups that could decide Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander against Durant is the headline, with Durant facing the franchise he left in 2016 and Gilgeous-Alexander having beaten Houston in double overtime in last season's opener.

Beyond the two stars, the rebounding battle matters because Houston's second-chance points kept them in the game in Dallas, and Mitchell must now create for others as well as score with so many Thunder guards and wings missing.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder player props to watch

What happened when the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder last met?

Oklahoma City opened last season by beating Houston 125-124 in double overtime, with Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 35 points and Sengun 39, before Durant fouled out with the Rockets leading in the second extra period.

The Thunder then won 111-91 at Toyota Center in January even though Houston out-rebounded them 60-44, because the Rockets shot only 33.7% from the field, and Houston answered with a 112-106 win in Oklahoma City in February.

The sides meet again on 27 December in Houston and 13 January in Oklahoma City, two more dates on the NBA schedule that will show how far this injury list has reshaped the Thunder.

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder tips and prediction

Houston are the sounder side because their scoring, ball movement and home record all point in one direction, and the back-to-back and Sengun's uncertainty are real but did not stop an offence that scored 132 at Milwaukee without him.

Oklahoma City's defence and Gilgeous-Alexander should keep the margin close for a while, though three starters short and with a weaker bench, the Thunder are unlikely to sustain it for 48 minutes against a team that scores this freely, and their lone road win came at San Antonio while their lone road defeat at Dallas was by 24 points.