Houston Rockets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game preview

Houston looks to snap their 4-game losing streak in Minnesota

Before we get started, the trade deadline is today (February 6) at 2pm CT. Houston is unlikely to make any major moves, but things have been wild over the past few days, so who knows?

The Houston Rockets have many impressive wins this season. They’ve swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, took down the Thunder, beat Boston in Boston, took three games against Memphis, won in Dallas against a healthy Mavericks squad (with Luka, natch), and finally got the monkey off their backs with a win over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.

But that win over the Warriors doesn’t happen without the win that felt like it announced Houston’s presence to the league: their November 26 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That game was in group play for the NBA Cup. Minnesota needed a win to take control of the group, and Houston needed a victory to clinch the whole enchilada that night. Minny had had Houston’s number in recent years, as Anthony Edwards had been an unstoppable force in Houston’s tanking years. Of course, the game required overtime despite the Rockets leading by 17 points with 3 minutes left in the third quarter and Minnoesta holding a 5-point lead with 3 minutes remaining in regulation. In overtime, the Timberwolves scored the first three points before Houston scored the next 11. It was the biggest win for the franchise since Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in The Bubble.

We could talk about the second game of the season series, but it would just remind fans of the game that took place on Tuesday.

Suffice to say, the Rockets are in a rut. Their offense has been putrid far too often over these past four games, and when their offense has actually played at the level of a semi-competent team, the defense has reverted back to the Stephen Silas days. Houston missed Alperen Sengun for three of those games, Fred VanVleet for two and most of a third, and Jabari Smith Jr. for all of them.

Sengun’s return against Brooklyn brought some semblance of normalcy to the defense and gave the Rockets an outlet on offense, but this team relies so heavily on VanVleet for reasons that should be obvious even to his harshest critics (Tulsa fans, I guess?). Even when Fred goes 2-11 like Rafer Alston did back in the day, his steady presence on offense and general disdain for turnovers lets the Rockets make up for their overall poor shooting. He’s also a much better defender than most are willing to admit. It feels reasonable to say that both he and Jabari won’t be back until after the All-Star break.

The Timberwolves played last night, so Houston finally gets a rest advantage game! Of course, it was a game against the depleted Bulls at home. Minnesota led 27-6 early, but Chicago took the lead midway through the second quarter. See? It’s not just Houston that blows leads in this league. The game remained close until Minny put the clamps on Chicago in the fourth quarter, so every Minny rotation player saw their normal amount of action. Edwards scored 49 points on 13-28 shooting and 17-18 from the line. If he takes 18 free throws again tonight, Houston is in for a world of hurt.

Julius Randle and Donte DiVencenzo are out tonight, which sort of evens out the injury reports. The Rockets don’t have a player who can bang with Randle outside of Steven Adams, and Randle’s too quick for him and can take him to the perimeter. Additionally, DDV started off the season poorly playing out of position, but of course had his best game of the season to that point against Houston in that December comeback win for Minnesota. He was primed to be tonight’s “non-star that goes off against Houston,” which now falls to Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, or Jaylen Clark. Naz Reid doesn’t count because he’s way too good for this category and Rob Dillingham is going to have an amazing night because it’s important for the narrative to keep stupidly bashing the Reed Sheppard pick.

Jaden Springer is unlikely to see any action tonight in his first game as a Rocket, but could also be unavailable due to the physical that he must pass and the fact that he won’t be completely familiar with any of Houston’s defensive plans.

We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!

Tip-off

7pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network and Playback

Injury Report

Rockets

Jabari Smith Jr.: OUT

Fred VanVleet: OUT

Jock Landale: OUT

Steven Adams: GTD

Jaden Springer: Probably not

Timberwolves

Julius Randle: OUT

Donte DiVencenzo: OUT

The Line (as of this post)

Hou -1.5

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Saturday afternoon in Dallas against the Dallas Mavericks