← Forecasts for Feb 7

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder

Saturday, February 7, 2026 · tip-off 3:30 PM ET

HOU 0–4@OKC 2–4 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: HOU 29 percent, OKC 71 percent. HOU Rockets 29% proj. 106 · final 112 OKC Thunder · home 71% proj. 114 · final 106
Each team's share of the floor is its pregame win probability. The line starts at midcourt and moves to the split.

Forecast and result

TeamProjectedFinalDifference
HOU Houston Rockets 106 112 +6
OKC Oklahoma City Thunder (home) 114 106 −8

Forecast: Oklahoma City Thunder to win, 71% win probability, projected margin 8.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputHOUOKC
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 15761704
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +198
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +5.1+12.6
Games played this season 5051
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 110.1116.7
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 110.8108.4
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 98.2
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 0.045.2
Rest days 23
Second night of a back-to-back NoNo

This forecast can't be broken down exactly: the model version that made this forecast is not available. Explanations are shown only when the model that made a forecast can be rebuilt and reproduces it. How explanations are checked

Built from the box scores

How the breakdowns work

Where each input came from. Open a row to see the games and box-score stats behind it. A breakdown is shown only when rebuilding it from the stored stats gives exactly the number the model received.

Elo ratingHOU1576OKC1704

Updated after every game from the final score only: wins, losses and margin. Each season starts by keeping 75% of last season's distance from the 1500 average.

HOU1576

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1585 → started this one at 1564
  2. First 40 games: +30.4
  3. Last 10 games: −17.5
  • WSAS111–106+5.5
  • L@PHI122–128−9.3
  • W@DET111–104+12.3
  • WMEM108–99+3.7
  • LSAS99–111−16.1
  • W@ATL104–86+14.6
  • WDAL111–107+2.2
  • W@IND118–114+3.4
  • LBOS93–114−20.1
  • LCHA99–109−13.7

OKC1704

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1760 → started this one at 1695
  2. First 41 games: +32.4
  3. Last 10 games: −23.3
  • L@MIA120–122−8.0
  • W@CLE136–104+16.4
  • W@MIL122–102+6.0
  • LIND114–117−16.1
  • LTOR101–103−10.1
  • WNOP104–95+1.2
  • L@MIN111–123−14.1
  • W@DEN121–111+7.8
  • WORL128–92+6.1
  • L@SAS106–116−12.5
Season scoring marginHOU+5.1OKC+12.6

Points scored minus points allowed per game this season, mixed with last season's margin until 20 games are played.

HOU+5.1

Scores 115.2, allows 110.1 over 50 games: +5.1 a game.

OKC+12.6

Scores 120.4, allows 107.8 over 51 games: +12.6 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10HOU110.1OKC116.7

Points scored per 100 possessions. Split into the four factors: right of center helps the team, left hurts, in points per 100 possessions compared with the league average (2025-26 to date: 114.6).

HOU110.1scored, −4.6 vs league

FactorHOULeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)50.6%54.4%−5.8
Turnovers (TOV%)11.5%12.2%+1.0
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1860.210−0.7
Everything else+0.9

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 10 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

OKC116.7scored, +2.0 vs league

FactorOKCLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)56.6%54.4%+3.3
Turnovers (TOV%)11.2%12.2%+1.4
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2270.210+0.5
Everything else−3.1

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 10 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Defensive rating, last 10HOU110.8OKC108.4

Points allowed per 100 possessions, built from what opponents did in those games. Bars point right when the defense held opponents below average. Split into the four factors: right of center helps the team, left hurts, in points per 100 possessions compared with the league average (2025-26 to date: 114.6).

HOU110.8allowed, −3.8 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)51.1%54.4%+5.1
Turnovers (TOV%)11.8%12.2%−0.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1680.210+1.2
Everything else−2.0

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 10 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

OKC108.4allowed, −6.2 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)51.1%54.4%+5.1
Turnovers (TOV%)11.7%12.2%−0.7
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1630.210+1.4
Everything else+0.5

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 10 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Pace, last 10average 98.2

Possessions per 48 minutes. The model uses the average of the two teams. Faster games mean more points for both sides, so pace mostly moves the projected total, not the margin.

HOU 96.5 and OKC 99.9 → average 98.2 (league 2025-26 to date: 100.3)

Rotation points missingHOU0.0OKC45.2

Points per game of rotation players (two or more of the last 10 games this season, 15+ minutes) listed Out or Doubtful on the official injury report.

HOU0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-02-07 17:30 ET. 8 rotation players.

OKC45.2pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander32.633.59
Ajay Mitchell12.726.13

Source: official injury report, 2026-02-07 17:30 ET. 11 rotation players.

RestHOU2 daysOKC3 days

Days since the team's previous game, capped at 5. One day means the second night of a back-to-back.

HOU2days

Last played Feb 5 against CHA.

OKC3days

Last played Feb 4 against SAS.

The last 10 games behind these numbers, box-score totals

HOU

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Feb 5CHA99–10938-838-2315-2018–102.1113.596.5
Feb 4BOS93–11434-8211-3014-229–102.2126.790.5
Feb 2@IND118–11440-877-2231-3715–120.4115.298.5
Jan 31DAL111–10745-10810-2611-155–112.1108.199.0
Jan 29@ATL104–8639-9212-3114-2011–114.395.690.5
Jan 28SAS99–11139-998-2313-1811–100.0112.199.0
Jan 26MEM108–9941-9211-3715-2016–108.0101.099.0
Jan 23@DET111–10439-799-2624-3015–113.3106.198.0
Jan 22@PHI122–12846-9918-4012-2416–116.2123.194.6
Jan 20SAS111–10643-8310-2715-2214–112.1107.199.0

OKC

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Feb 4@SAS106–11637-9319-4713-1414–101.0110.5105.0
Feb 3ORL128–9248-9312-3520-2610–132.093.997.5
Feb 1@DEN121–11140-8519-4822-2713–122.2112.199.0
Jan 29@MIN111–12341-8611-3118-2015–113.3124.298.5
Jan 27NOP104–9535-8713-3821-2316–109.597.996.0
Jan 25TOR101–10333-7511-4324-3111–104.1105.197.5
Jan 23IND114–11740-827-2627-309–112.9117.0100.5
Jan 21@MIL122–10249-9014-3610-158–125.8105.297.0
Jan 19@CLE136–10450-9023-4713-2011–127.197.2107.0
Jan 17@MIA120–12242-7713-2923-2814–118.8120.8101.0

Off and Def are points scored and allowed per 100 possessions in each game; their averages are the 10-game ratings above. OREB is missing (–) where the source data didn't record it.

The result against the forecast

2025-26 surprise games
29%
pregame chance the forecast gave HOU, the winner
the forecast favored OKC
14 pts
margin miss
forecast +8, actual −6 for OKC
66th
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
399th
largest margin miss of 2025-26
outcome surprise 1.25 nats

Surprise is measured against this model's forecast, not against what other observers expected. Outcome surprise is −ln(winner's pregame probability): 0.69 for a coin flip, 2.3 for a 10% winner.

Team box score

What happened in the game. These numbers are not used by the forecast, and they are not offered as the reason it missed.

Team statHOUOKC
Final score112106
Field goals38–83 · 45.8%37–82 · 45.1%
Three-pointers15–43 · 34.9%14–36 · 38.9%
Free throws21–28 · 75.0%18–28 · 64.3%
Rebounds4142
Assists2525
Turnovers1416
Steals1210
Blocks52

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (OKC)+8−6−14
Total points220218−2
HOU points106112+6
OKC points114106−8

Recent form before this game

Houston Rockets

DateOpponentResult
Feb 5 vs CHA L 99–109
Feb 4 vs BOS L 93–114
Feb 2 at IND W 118–114
Jan 31 vs DAL W 111–107
Jan 29 at ATL W 104–86

Oklahoma City Thunder

DateOpponentResult
Feb 4 at SAS L 106–116
Feb 3 vs ORL W 128–92
Feb 1 at DEN W 121–111
Jan 29 at MIN L 111–123
Jan 27 vs NOP W 104–95

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Jan 15 2025-26 OKC at HOU OKC 111 – 91 HOU
Oct 21 2025-26 HOU at OKC HOU 124 – 125 OKC
Apr 4 2024-25 OKC at HOU OKC 111 – 125 HOU
Mar 3 2024-25 HOU at OKC HOU 128 – 137 OKC
Dec 1 2024-25 OKC at HOU OKC 116 – 119 HOU