Rockets Visit Timberwolves, Start Four Game Road-Trip
Headed North. Top of the Food Chain. First 22.
The Rockets head north to start a four-game road-trip on Sunday night. First up, the squad will battle the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are currently tied for first in the West, and have been near the top of the standings the entire season. This will be by far the toughest test on this road-trip. After this matchup, Houston travels to Indiana, Toronto, and then Atlanta respectively. The Pacers won’t be easy, but the final two teams are beatable, despite the games coming on a back-to-back. Tonight, the Rockets are once again facing a great team coming off a loss, as has been the case seemingly many times this season. The Wolves lost by two points to the Orlando Magic at home in their previous game, and will be hungry to get back on the winning track. Houston is coming off a 135-106 beatdown over the Toronto Raptors at home.
Minnesota won the first battle between these teams, 122-95, back in Houston on January 5th. The Rockets will aim to display more effort, and make round two a much closer contest between these squads. The Wolves have no major injuries at the moment, so that means we’ll be seeing the usual, dangerous suspects in Minnesota. This includes Anthony “Ant-Man” Edwards, Karl-Anthony Tows, and Rudy Gobert. Edwards and Towns were both recently named All-Star reserves for the Western Conference. Ant-Man is having an MVP-Caliber season, and KAT dropped a career-high 62 points a few weeks ago. Rudy Gobert is once again a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, and will likely cause Sengun major headaches in the paint tonight. Houston has to hope their rookies keep rolling, and hopefully Jalen Green bounces back after a sub-par game against the Raptors.
Unfortunately, the Rockets will still be without Tari Eason, who is missing his 18th straight game of the season due to left lower leg injury management. Last year as a rookie, Eason played in all 82 games of the season. Houston just hasn’t been the same team since his departure with the injury. The close games they were winning earlier in the season they’re now losing, and the Rockets are now getting blown out in games they’d hang around in with Eason on the court. Houston started the season 13-9, the most games they’ve been over .500 all year. The Rockets need to find a way to return to that playing style. Over those games, the majority of the losses were close, with Houston competitive in nearly every matchup. Eason isn’t expected to be out too much longer, but after tonight, only 33 games remain in the season. The Rockets need their energizer bunny back as quickly as possible. Hopefully they can pull off a huge upset without him to start this road-trip.
Target Center: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (23-25): Black
Minnesota Timberwolves (34-15): White
Tip-Off: 6:00 PM CT
TV: Space City Home Network, NBA League Pass