Karl-Anthony Towns outduels Christian Wood as Rockets’ defensive woes linger in loss to Minnesota

Karl-Anthony Towns outdueled Christian Wood as Minnesota put up 141 points on Houston’s leaky defense. It all led to yet another blowout loss at Toyota Center for the Rockets.

One game after allowing 80 points in Friday’s first half, the Rockets gave up 75 on Sunday versus Minnesota. Houston and its leaky defense went on to allow 130+ points for the fifth time in the last 11 games, leading to a 141-123 Timberwolves win (box score) at Toyota Center.

Not coincidentally, with woeful defense as the clear leading storyline, the Rockets are 1-10 in that 11-game stretch. Karl-Anthony Towns was the biggest beneficiary on Sunday, scoring 40 points on 15-of-25 shooting (60.0%) and dishing out 7 assists in 33 minutes.

Christian Wood led the Rockets with 22 points and 8 rebounds, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers (66.7%), but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Towns, D’Angelo Russell (22 points, 55.6% on 3-pointers, 10 assists) and Jarred Vanderbilt (21 points, 71.4% FG, 19 rebounds).

Rookie Josh Christopher was a bright spot off the bench for Houston, scoring a career-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.4%). In 27 minutes, Christopher also had 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

Christopher easily outperformed Houston’s starting backcourt, with Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. each shooting only 3-of-10 from the field (30.0%) and 1-of-6 on 3-pointers (16.7%).

The Rockets (11-30) don’t have long to dwell on Sunday’s result, since they play night two of a home back-to-back on Monday versus Philadelphia. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CST. Until then, scroll on for highlights and postgame reaction after the loss to Minnesota (20-20).

[lawrence-related id=61537,61295]