The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Sacramento Kings on Friday, in a must win game for the home side. After losing four straight, the Thunder are now tied with New Orleans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They'll need to put a little more emphasis on defense if they want to hold onto a playoff spot.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Home Cookin' - The Kings are terrible on the road, and they've covered just once in their last 10 road games versus teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better at home. They've also seen the total go under in six straight versus a team with a winning record.

2. Previous History - These teams have seen the total go under in eight of the last nine meetings in this series, and three of those unders came here at Oklahoma City.

3. X-Factor - With all the injuries to both teams, there's a lot of firepower that won't be available tonight. Cousins and Gay are banged up for Sacramento, while Durant is out for Oklahoma City. Nick Collison and Dion Waiters are also dealing with injuries.

Selection: This is a play on the Kings@Thunder to go UNDER the total .(8*)