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Thunder pay a visit to Rockets

Jan 12, 2011 - 4:30 PM (Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder aim for their third consecutive win tonight when they take on the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

The Thunder franchise hasn't had much success in Texas' largest city, however, dropping 11 straight on the road versus the Rockets. In fact, the club hasn't won in Houston since an 87-85 win back on Feb. 22, 2005 when it was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Thunder, who are tied atop the Northwest Division with Utah, are coming off a 109-100 victory over Memphis in Okie City when Kevin Durant scored a game-high 40 points to go along with eight rebounds.

Russell Westbrook scored 22 points with 11 assists and Jeff Green added 15 points for Oklahoma City, which has won two straight since falling to the Grizzlies 110-105 on January 4.

"Memphis has been playing good basketball. They're a matchup problem for everybody," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Zach [Randolph], the All-Star that he is, he gets rebounds. He challenges you every second of the shot clock."

The Rockets, meanwhile, snapped an ugly five-game skid with one of their biggest wins of the season, a 108-102 triumph over the Celtics minus Kevin Martin in Boston on Monday. Aaron Brooks, returning to the lineup after missing three games with an ankle injury, led a balanced attack with a game- high 24 points in that one.

Kyle Lowry finished with 17 points and eight assists, while Chase Budinger hit 3-of-4 from three-point range to end with 13 points off the bench for the Rockets, who shot 52.7 percent from the field and made 10-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Luis Scola donated 12 points and nine rebounds, and Jordan Hill ended with 12 points and eight boards in the victory.

"We were struggling at the start of the year and the guys came out and played a solid game," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We shot the ball well and never folded, never gave them an inch. It's just a nice win to get."

Martin, the team's leading scorer who missed the Boston game with a sore right wrist, is questionable for tonight.

Overall, Oklahoma City has won two of three meetings against the Rockets this season and three of four overall since snapping a 13-game skid to Houston.

"They have been good for a while now," Brooks told the Thunder's website when talking about the Rockets. "They have good players. (Shane) Battier is a good defender, Scola's as smart and crafty as any four man in the league and he gives us problems like he gives the league problems. (Jordan) Hill has stepped up and started to play good basketball, and their backcourt is good."