Last season, the three matchups between the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves ended in a combined score of 350-351. None of the three were blowouts, as the largest margin of victory was Houston's lone win in the series (by 5 points).
The two losses were different levels of devastating, though. Both came towards the end of the season and basically tanked any chance Houston had of holding home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It turned out that not having those first two games in Houston really hurt since the Los Angeles Lakers rode the crowd to 326 TS%* over those first two games (*all stats are approximate but seriously the Lakers couldn't miss in Games 1 and 2).
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The first loss was the one where Houston held a 13-point lead in overtime. It was easily one of the most impressive first two minutes of an overtime period I've ever seen. Then it was followed by the most devastating three-minute stretch in overtime, as Minny closed on a furious 15-0 run to win. It was yet another in a long list of late-game collapses for that Houston squad.
The T-Wolves come in without Anthony Edwards, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, but there was enough success early for proof-of-concept in the Ant-LaMelo Ball pairing. It definitely looks like they can work together, and the further ascension of Jaden McDaniels gives them enough cover for the two months waiting for Ant's return.
The Wolves also have this generation's Thaddeus Young in veteran Rockets killer Jonathan Kuminga. He's playing well this season so I expect another career night out of him against a team he always shows up to play.
Tip-off
7:30pm CT
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How To Watch
Space City Home Network
Injury Report
Rockets
Clint Capela: GTD
Steven Adams: OUT
Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards: OUT
Terrence Shannon Jr.: GTD
Donte DiVincenzo: OUT
The Line (as of this post)
HOU -9.5
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Schedule Advantage Counter
Rockets: 1
Opponents: 2
Looking ahead because we can
Saturday night in Phoenix against the Suns
