Previewing Monday’s Brooklyn Nets at Minnesota Timberwolves sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Brooklyn Nets (16-15) are going to the Target Center to play the Minnesota Timberwolves (11-20) 8 p.m. ET Monday. We analyze Nets-Timberwolves odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Nets at Timberwolves: Key injuries
Nets
SG Caris LeVert (thumb) out
PG Kyrie Irving (shoulder) out
SF Kevin Durant (Achilles) out
Timberwolves
C Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) questionable
SF Andrew Wiggins (illness) questionable
SF Jake Layman (toe) out
Nets at Timberwolves: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 2:45 p.m. ET.
PASS on the moneyline. We are on the Nets (-161) to win this game, but we’ll take the spread as a much better value than the moneyline. Both teams have been bitten by the injury bug since their opening game meeting. The Timberwolves could be without Towns and Wiggins, and the Nets are missing their two leading scorers from that game in Irvingand LeVert.
This ultimately comes down to value for me because all the signs point to the Nets in a comfy win over the Timberwolves. The Wolves have lost 12 of their last 13 games.
Bet the NETS (-2.5, -115) to cover the spread and win by at least 3 points because of a slight motivation edge. The Timberwolves beat them in overtime on opening night in Brooklyn, and they have owned the Nets in their recent history (7-3 straight up and against the spread), so the Nets are looking forward to kicking the Timberwolves while they are down. Also, I love taking the better rebounding team in NBA regular-season games. The Nets get the second-most rebounds per game (48.6) and the Timberwolves surrender the most rebounds per game (48.3).
Sure, the Timberwolves would love to get out of their epic slump but they probably won’t have the players to do it. Monitor this game’s injury report for as long as you can before placing any bets.
The matchup alignment fits nicely for the UNDER 218.5 (-106).A good Nets defense—ranking third in opponent field-goal percentage (43.2) and 12th in opponent’s 3-point percentage (35)—goes against a bad Timberwolves offense—26th in FG% (43.4) and 29th in 3pt% (31.8). In addition, both teams are poor offensively. The Nets rank 23rd in offensive rating (106.8) and the Timberwolves rank 22nd (107).
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Anthony Davis came close to a career-high in a big win over the Minnesota Timberwolves before another road trip.
Anthony Davis added another chapter of dominant play to his resume for both Defensive Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player award while setting the stage for so much more, scoring 50 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals as the Lakers won by a wide margin, 142-125 on Sunday night.
In addition to the big night for Davis, LeBron James dominated as he has all season long by totalling 32 points, 13 assists and four rebounds on the evening. The Timberwolves have been one of the league’s most intriguing stories over the first few months but the Lakers, as they have done this season, didn’t have any time for cute stories from their opponents.
In addition to the two stars, reserve guard and viral favorite Alex Caruso had 16 points off the bench for the Lakers to go with four assists and four rebounds. And behind JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard once again answered the bell with eight points and six rebounds in just 22 minutes of play.
With the victory, the Lakers once again took sole possession of the best record in the NBA at 21-3. They’re also only 10 days away from what could be an NBA Finals preview on Dec. 19 in Milwaukee at the end of their upcoming five-game road trip.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back home for “22 hours” before heading out on their longest road trip of the season yet.
As LeBron James walked off the floor with Anthony Davis on Friday night following another road win, James joked that they and their Los Angeles Lakers would be back home for “22 hours” before getting back on the road again. While James was exaggerating, by a day or two, the point remains that their time at home will be like a lightning bolt as they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday before going on another road trip next week.
James, Davis and the Lakers take on the Timberwolves for the first time this season, as Minnesota finds themselves in the mix for a playoff spot in the Western Conference at 10-11. The Wolves are also recovering from one of the weirdest losses you’ll ever see as Chris Paul calling out Jordan Bell’s untucked jersey gave the Thunder a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, where the Wolves eventually lost.
The focal point for the Lakers defense will be Karl-Anthony Towns, who will stretch the Lakers centers far away from the basket with regularity. While Towns has a post-game, he’s attempting nearly nine 3-pointers per game and shooting 43.4% on those shots. The outside, even from far beyond the line where guys like Damian Lillard or Stephen Curry launch from, is where Towns can put the Lakers in different positions.
In addition to Towns, Andrew Wiggins has historically played well against LeBron ever since being traded for Kevin Love in his rookie season. That was before Wiggins took a big step forward to start this season as he is averaging career-highs in assists, blocks, rebounds and points.
Dennis Schröder made a layup as time expired to send the Thunder and the Timberwolves into overtime tied at 121.
It took a hail Mary pass, a buzzer-beating layup, and overtime but the Thunder emerged victorious from their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday with a 139-127 victory.
The bizarre ending inside Chesapeake Energy Arena started like this: Oklahoma City trailed 121-119 with one second remaining in regulation when the Thunder fouled Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns missed the first of two free throws, but Minnesota was assessed a technical foul when Jordan Bell checked into the game in between shots because he didn’t have his shirt tucked in.
Danilo Gallinari made his technical free throw, cutting the Timberwolves’ lead to one.
Towns then made the second of his free throws, but despite putting Minnesota up two, the make allowed OKC to take the ball out of bounds.
Adams then threw a pass the length of the court to Dennis Schröder, who beat the buzzer with a layup to send the game into overtime.
Schröder told reporters after the game that he and Adams had been communicating about a potential final play prior to Towns’ second free throw.
“I missed a wide-open layup to tie the game first. Everybody came to me and was like, ‘you’re going to make up for it”, he said. “Karl Towns wanted to miss that free throw, he didn’t miss. He (Steven Adams) took it out, and I mean, I had to make up for it. After that, I don’t know what happened, I blacked out a little bit.”
Dennis Schröder breaking down the Hail Mary that sent the game into overtime: pic.twitter.com/MJ8kqMDomu
Oklahoma City outscored the Timberwolves 17-5 in overtime to earn the victory.
Chris Paul scored a season-high 30. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been in somewhat of a slump as of late, had 29. Schröder, Adams, and Gallinari all made of the bulk of the rest of the scoring with 25, 22, and 21 respectively.
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. Which stars have stood out thus far?
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Leonard hasn’t been super effective in the three games that he’s played since returning from a left knee contusion. The Clippers managed to win all three contests (over the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans), but Leonard seems a bit limited. Sure, Kawhi at 70-80 percent is better than most players at 100 percent, but we dropped him down our rankings a bit as he gets back to full strength. It’s worth noting that Leonard has been much less efficient than usual this season, which is something that the 28-year-old will surely work on. He’s shooting just 43.5 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which would easily be career-lows for Leonard. He’s only appeared in 12 games, though, so perhaps it’s just a small sample size. Fortunately for the Clippers (and basketball fans in general), Leonard and Paul George are finally playing together and it’s been fun to watch. So far, L.A. is undefeated when they have their two stars in the lineup at the same time.
Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls was a perfect example of how adding Carmelo Anthony may help the Blazers win some additional games this season. Lillard scored just 13 points on 40.0 percent shooting from the field and 25.0 percent from three, but Portland still won because Anthony had 25 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 57.1 percent from three. Lillard has been outstanding for the Blazers this year, but one player can only do so much. If Anthony continues to score this efficiently, it’ll be difficult for defenses to shut down Carmelo, Lillard and CJ McCollum. Lillard recently missed a game due to back spasms (insert joke about Dame carrying the Blazers on his back) and the point guard said that the issue is going to linger for a bit, so that may be why he’s struggling as of late. On the season, Lillard ranks fifth in Offensive Box Plus/Minus (6.9), seventh in Win Shares (2.4), seventh in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1) and 10th in Player Efficiency Rating (25.0).
This is Butler’s first time cracking our MVP rankings this season, but he’s been playing well all year for the Heat. Butler’s decision to leave the Philadelphia 76ers for Miami was one of the biggest surprises of this past offseason, but the 30-year-old forward has fit in perfectly with the Heat’s culture. With Butler leading the way on the perimeter, Miami currently has the second-best defense in the NBA (allowing just 100 points per 100 possessions). This has helped the Heat get off to a 12-4 start, which is the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Over the weekend, Butler returned to Philadelphia to face off against the Sixers for the first time since his departure and while he would’ve loved to have a monster showing and get the win, he finished with just 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 30.8 percent from the field (including 0-2 from three) in a losing effort. Still, Butler is having a strong campaign and he has the Heat near the top of the East, which is why he’s in our Top 10 this week.
Siakam has emerged as an elite scorer this season, while continuing to play the strong defense that we’ve seen from him in the past. At the moment, Siakam is ranked ninth among all players in Defensive Win Shares (0.9), 16th in Win Shares (1.8) and 18th in Value Over Replacement Player (.7). Interestingly, Siakam’s stats (25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.3 threes, 0.8 steals, 47.4 FG%, 37.4 3P%) are actually very similar to the numbers of his former teammate Kawhi Leonard (25.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.8 threes, 2.1 steals, 43.5 FG%, 30.0 3P%). Everyone expected the 25-year-old to take on a bigger role this season and show some progress in Leonard’s absence, but this kind of leap is just incredible. He’s becoming one of the game’s elite two-way players and he seems poised for superstardom. Not bad for someone who didn’t play organized basketball for the first time until he was nearly 18 years old!
Towns continues to shoot the ball extremely well, making 44.4 percent of his three-pointers on 9.0 attempts per game. He’s more than doubled his number of three-pointers per game this season, which has made him an even scarier offensive weapon for Minnesota. Believe it or not, Towns’ 57 three-pointers is third-best in the NBA behind only James Harden (79) and Devonte’ Graham (60). The 24-year-old’s game perfectly fits in the modern NBA. Between Towns’ strong play and Andrew Wiggins’drastic improvement, it’s possible that the Wolves could shock everyone and sneak into the playoffs for just the second time in 16 years. After winning three-straight games (including an impressive victory over the Miami Heat), Minnesota has the seventh-best record in the Western Conference at 9-8.
The Lakers’ roster features 11 new players (including Davis), but you’d never know it from watching this team play. Rather than struggling out of the gate as they try to develop chemistry and get everyone on the same page, L.A. opened their season by winning 15 of their first 17 games. Davis and LeBron James have been a terrific one-two punch out of the gate, bringing the best out of each other. Davis may not be posting the jaw-dropping stat lines we got used to seeing from him with the New Orleans Pelicans, but that’s because he has a better supporting cast now and the Lakers aren’t asking him to carry the team on his own. Still, he’s been a dominant rim protector (leading the league in blocks) and he’s capable of scoring from anywhere on the court (averaging a career-high 1.2 threes per game). It may be tough for Davis to win MVP because he’s playing alongside James (and vice versa, perhaps), but there’s no question that he’s having a terrific season. It’ll be interesting to see how this Lakers team looks at midseason once they’re even more cohesive (and once their schedule gets a bit more difficult).
Last week, we praised Harden’s offensive output and moved him up our rankings because the Rockets held the second-best record in the league and were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. Unfortunately, Houston went on to drop their next three games to tough teams (the Denver Nuggets, L.A. Clippers and Dallas Mavericks). Harden continues to score at will, despite constantly being double-teamed by opponents. He recently voiced his displeasure with the constant double-teaming, telling reporters: “The whole season, they’re running doubles teams at me. I’ve never seen that in an NBA game where you’ve got really good defenders and someone else running at the top of the key. Y’all let me know the last time you’ve seen that.” He uses this to his advantage at times, drawing contact from both defenders and getting to the foul line (which he’s doing more often than anyone since prime Wilt Chamberlain). With the Rockets’ current losing streak, Harden dropped one spot this week, but there’s no question that he’ll be in the mix for this award come the end of the season as long as he stays healthy.
The Bucks have now won 13 of their last 14 games (including eight-straight), climbing to No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings. Not only have they lost just one game in the month of November, they’re winning convincingly – as evidenced by their +9.3 average point differential, the highest in the NBA. That’s in large part due to Antetokounmpo, who continues to dominate on both ends of the floor. On Monday, he had perhaps his best outing of the season in a win over the Utah Jazz, finishing with 50 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 threes, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. The Jazz entered the game with the NBA’s top-ranked defense (allowing just 99.3 points per 100 possessions), yet Giannis did whatever he wanted against them. Antetokounmpo became just the second player in NBA history to hit all of those statistical marks in a single game, joining Michael Jordan (who did it against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989-90).
Recently, a courtside fan captured a funny interaction between James and a referee, with James saying, “I know you’ve been reading and they’re saying that I haven’t been playing defense these last couple of years, but it’s a new year!” Well, this season, it seems that James’ main focuses are defending and facilitating. His much-improved defense is perhaps the starkest difference between 2018-19 and this year. James ranks fifth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (+1.0) and 20th in Defensive Rating (101.9), and his effort on that end of the floor has been significantly better. Perhaps Anthony Davis deserves credit for this, as he’s been saying since the offseason that he was going to hold LeBron accountable and push him to play at an All-Defensive-Team level like he’s capable of doing. After Monday’s games, the Lakers actually have the best defense in the NBA (allowing just 99.7 points per 100 possessions). As for LeBron’s playmaking, he leads the league in assists per game (10.8) and assist percentage (50.7) by wide margins. In fact, he’s been involved in 49.0 percent of the Lakers’ points, which is easily the highest percentage among all NBA players this season. Los Angeles has won eight-straight and sit at 15-2, which is the NBA’s best record.
Early in the season, people were praising Doncic’s game while wondering when the sophomore would come back down to the Earth. Well, rather than regressing, Luka has only gotten better and he’s even closer to averaging 30-10-10. Doncic currently leads all NBA players in Win Shares (3.6), Box Plus/Minus (14.2), Value Over Replacement Player (2.2) and Player Efficiency Rating (33.3). In fact, his 33.3 PER puts him on pace for the best single-season efficiency rating of all-time. He makes the game look incredibly easy, destroying teams offensively. Not only does he have the league’s second-best scoring average (30.6), he ranks second in the NBA in assists per game (9.8) and assist percentage (48.9), showing just how many buckets he’s creating for himself and others. Doncic secured this week’s top spot after delivering an MVP-like performance in Dallas’ win over James Harden and the Houston Rockets, finishing with 41 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 threes, 2 steals and 1 block. And his production is translating into victories for the Mavs, as they’ve now won five-straight games. Dallas is 11-5, which is the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. Right now, Doncic may be the frontrunner for the Most Valuable Player award and the Most Improved Player award.
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives their Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Check out this week’s rankings.
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Siakam is making the Raptors look smart for giving him that four-year, $130 million extension. This is Siakam’s first appearance in our Top 10, but he’s been playing well all season. Even if he doesn’t receive significant MVP love this year because there are so many great candidates, it’s possible that he could become the first player in NBA history to win the Most Improved Player award twice. One could make the argument that his growth over the last year (+8.8 ppg, +1.7 rpg, +1.1 apg) is just as impressive as his sophomore-to-junior leap (+9.6 ppg, +2.4 rpg, +1.1 apg). Regardless of whether he wins MIP for a second-straight year, he’s made huge strides this season. Becoming a team’s No. 1 option and a 25-point-per-game scorer is extremely hard, but Siakam has made it look easy. The 25-year-old has essentially filled the Kawhi Leonard role in this offense and it’s been amazing to watch his development in recent years. He has the Raptors sitting at 9-4, which is the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Leonard dropped down our list over the last week because he’s missed three-straight games due to a left-knee contusion that he suffered in the Clippers’ loss to the Houston Rockets last Wednesday. Leonard has been terrific on both ends of the floor when he’s suited up, but he’s now missed five of a possible 14 games this season. As we wrote in this space last week, voters tend to reward players who haven’t missed significant time when considering Most Valuable Player. The last 15 MVP winners have missed an average of 3.93 games in the season in which they won the award (with no individual missing more than 10 games). The Clippers are likely going to be cautious with Leonard moving forward to ensure that he’ll be at 100 percent for their playoff run (like the Toronto Raptors’ approach that worked so well last year). Also, when two MVP candidates have teamed up in the past (like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry on the Golden State Warriors), voters weren’t sure what to do and they basically canceled each other out. It’s possible that could happen with Leonard and 2018-19 MVP finalist Paul George, who returned recently.
The big news in the NBA over the last week was the Trail Blazers’ decision to sign free agent Carmelo Anthony. After sustaining numerous injuries and getting off to a slow start (5-9, which is the third-worst record in the Western Conference), Portland is hoping that Anthony can help revitalize this team. Last time Anthony was in the NBA, he averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 threes while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from three-point range in 10 games with the Houston Rockets. It remains to be seen how much this addition will impact Lillard and CJ McCollum, who are Portland’s top options on offense. Lillard is averaging career-highs across the board, but he’s received little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are struggling so much.
Not only has Towns been filling the stat sheet, he’s been extraordinarily efficient in the process. He’s shooting 51.2 percent from the field on 17.9 field goal attempts and he’s making 43.5 percent of his threes on 9.0 attempts. Only James Harden (4.9) is making more threes per game than Towns (3.9), and the big man’s three-point percentage is 6.5 percentage points higher than Harden’s. Also, Towns currently ranks fourth in Box Plus/Minus (+10.1), fourth in PER (30.4) and fifth in Value Over Replacement Player (1.2). With Towns making his presence felt all over the court and Andrew Wiggins playing the best basketball of his career, the Timberwolves are now 8-6 and holding the Western Conference’s eighth seed, putting them just 3.5 games back from the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
It didn’t take long for Davis and LeBron James long to develop chemistry, as they’ve been a terrific one-two punch for the Lakers thus far. As our Bryan Kalbroskynoted, James is passing the ball to Davis 25.2 times per 36 minutes, which is more than he dished to any other past teammate, including Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving, Chris Bosh and Kevin Love. It’s clear that James trusts his big man and if they’re playing this well with very little time spent getting acclimated to each other (and their many new teammates), it’ll be interesting to see how well they’ll be playing together toward the end of the season when they’ve learned each other’s tendencies more. Davis is leading the NBA in blocks per game and he’s swatted 24 shots in his last seven games.
Kyrie Irving who? When news broke over the summer that Irving (and Al Horford) planned to leave Boston via free agency, it seemed like the Celtics were going to take a significant step back. It would’ve been understandable if they shifted their focus to developing Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co. Instead, the Celtics found a terrific replacement for Irving in Kemba Walker. The 29-year-old is posting impressive numbers and he has Boston sitting at No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings with an 11-2 record (which is also tied for the best record in the entire NBA). It seems that Walker brings production similar to that of Irving without the behind-the-scenes drama and chemistry issues that hurt the Celtics last year. If Boston can keep this up and sit atop the East, Walker would get some MVP consideration (and deservedly so) and Brad Stevens would likely get some Coach of the Year love. And as Walker gets more comfortable with his new team, his play should only improve. With that said, there seems to be a significant gap between the Top-4 players on this list and everyone else.
Doncic is used to having unprecedented success for someone his age. Remember, he won the Euroleague MVP award at 19 years old prior to entering the NBA. Now, as a 20-year-old sophomore in the Association, his numbers aren’t too far off from what Russell Westbrook averaged back in 2016-17 when he won MVP (31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.6 steals). While posting triple-doubles no longer seems to draw the same jaw-dropping reaction since Westbrook normalized it, it’s unheard of for a 20-year-old to be having this kind of success. He had an MVP performance on Monday night, dropping 42 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds and 5 threes in a win over the San Antonio Spurs. Only two players in NBA history have posted a 40-point triple-double at age-20: Doncic and LeBron James. The sophomore is having a special campaign, his Mavericks are fifth in the West at 8-5 and he deserves to be high on this list as long as he keeps this up.
If the season ended today, Harden’s 39.2 scoring average would be the highest since Wilt Chamberlain posted 44.8 points per game in the 1962-63 season. In fact, Harden is on pace to join Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to average 39 or more points in a season. (Michael Jordan came close in 1986-87, but he finished the campaign averaging 37.1 points). Harden’s shooting percentages aren’t pretty – 42.5 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from deep – but when Houston is winning and he’s averaging nearly 40 points and eight assists per game, it feels like nitpicking to complain about his efficiency. Also, it’s worth noting that his True Shooting Percentage (.618) is actually up from last season. The Rockets have won eight-straight games and are 11-3, which is the second-best record in the Western Conference (and the third-best record in the NBA). If Harden continues at this pace, this season will go down as one of the most impressive offensive displays in league history.
At this point, James has the “best player on the best team” argument going for him. He’s filling the stat sheet on a nightly basis and it’s translating into wins for the Lakers, who are an NBA-best 11-2 (with a league-best +10.2 average point differential) thus far. Can the Lakers sustain this level of play? That remains to be seen, but James will have a strong case as long as they do. If James were to win his fifth MVP award this season, he’d become the second-oldest MVP in NBA history behind only Karl Malone (who was named Most Valuable Player in his age-35 season). Malone was 35 years and 284 days old at the end of the 1998-99 regular season. James is also in his age-35 season, but he would only be 35 years and 107 days old at the end of this regular season. Whether he ultimately wins the honor or not, nobody can deny how impressive it is for James to be producing like this at 35 years old.
Antetokounmpo is having another incredible season and while it may not feel like past years because his cheat-code dominance is no longer fresh and surprising, at the end of the day, he’s the reigning MVP and he has somehow managed to improve his stats across the board. He’s averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, three-pointers made, three-point percentage, Player Efficiency Rating, Box Plus/Minus, Defensive Rating and the list goes on and on. The advance stats love him too, as he leads all NBA players in Box Plus/Minus, Value Over Replacement Player and PER. He’s led the Bucks to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 10-3 (with an East-best +9.5 average point differential). He has the numbers, record and signature performances to potentially win back-to-back MVP awards. Also, he’s doing this without another star on his team, unlike LeBron James (who has Anthony Davis) and James Harden (who has Russell Westbrook). It remains to be seen if voters will take that into consideration, as they have in the past.
James Harden scored 49 and Chris Clemons and Isaiah Hartenstein each set career highs, leading the Rockets (10-3) to a seventh straight win.
The Houston Rockets probably weren’t too surprised by the game-high 49 points from James Harden on Saturday in Minnesota, even on night two of a split back-to-back. After all, he’s a former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the league’s leading scorer for a reason.
But career-high showings off the bench in the form of 19 points from rookie guard Chris Clemons (+32 in plus/minus), and 16 rebounds (+26) from 21-year-old seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein? Those were quite unexpected, and it helped lead the short-handed Rockets to an impressive 125-105 road win (box score) Saturday at Minnesota (7-6).
Despite standing just 5-foot-9 and several inches shorter than those guarding him, Clemons was very efficient Saturday by shooting 7-of-11 overall (including a dunk!), and 5-of-9 on three-pointers.
It represents the seventh straight victory for the Rockets (10-3), who are now just a half-game back of the Los Angeles Lakers (10-2) for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
Even with three starters and four rotation players out in the form of Russell Westbrook (rest), Danuel House Jr. (bruised back), Clint Capela (concussion), and Eric Gordon (knee surgery), the Rockets found a way to keep their winning streak going with improbable contributions from the likes of Clemons and Hartenstein — especially when combined with the usual brilliance from Harden.
Harden has now scored 40+ points seven different times in the 2019-20 season to date, which is more than half of Houston’s 13 games.
Harden this week averaged 44.8 points on 45.8 percent shooting, 40 percent 3-point shooting with 5.8 rpg, 6.8 apg, 2.3 spg as Rockets went 4-0.
Guards Austin Rivers (19 points) and Ben McLemore (20 points) started in place of Westbrook and House, with each performing admirably. At center, Tyson Chandler started for Capela. But at 37 years old, Chandler was limited to 17 minutes on night two of the back-to-back, following a strong performance (+24 in 25 minutes) in Friday’s home win over Indiana. However, Hartenstein more than picked up the slack with 16 rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes.
The Timberwolves were led by 27 points and 15 rebounds from All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite it being the second night of a back-to-back and the road, Houston’s defensive effort somehow improved as the game moved along, with the Rockets allowing just 43 points in the second half after giving up 62 in the first half.
The Rockets will not practice Sunday, taking it as a well-deserved day off after a stretch of three wins in four days. They’ll return to action Monday with a home game versus the Portland Trail Blazers (5-8).
[lawrence-related id=18021,18003,10609]
REALLY good win (7th in a row) on the 2nd night of a back-to-back minus 4 rotation players over the Wolves, 125-105. Harden had 49, but he had help, lots of it. Clemons a career high 19…he was +32. Hartenstein a career best 16rebs…he was a +26. Ben Mac scored 20 & Rivers 19.
Houston Rockets center Clint Capela is out for Friday’s game versus Indiana and doubtful for Saturday in Minnesota with a head injury.
[jwplayer 8FhC9jll-z6KDnl0B]
The Houston Rockets (8-3) have won five consecutive games, but they’ll likely need some players near the end of their bench to step up this weekend against strong competition to keep the streak going.
Starting center Clint Capela is out for Friday’s home matchup versus Indiana (7-4) with a head injury and doubtful for Saturday’s road game at Minnesota (7-3), head coach Mike D’Antoni confirmed at Thursday’s practice. The 25-year-old left Wednesday’s win over the Clippers in the fourth quarter after taking a hit to his head in a collision with Los Angeles big man JaMychal Green.
Capela was evaluated postgame for a concussion, and the Rockets say he will be re-evaluated before Saturday’s game. However, as of Thursday, Capela had not been diagnosed with a concussion.
Coach D’Antoni confirms that Clint Capela will miss tomorrow’s game vs. Indiana. He was evaluated for a concussion after the hit he drew last night. He will be re-evaluated before Saturday. Tyson Chandler will start in his place. #Rockets#OneMission
Capela has grabbed at least 20 rebounds in each of his last three games played, making him the first Rockets player to do so since Moses Malone in 1982. His rebounding presence has been a big part of the Rockets’ remarkable defensive turnaround, with Houston going from the NBA’s second-worst team in defensive rating over the first six games (3-3) to the league’s No. 1 defense over the current streak.
The timing of the 6-foot-10 big man’s absence is not ideal for the Rockets, who have the weekend back-to-back against two teams led by elite big men. Indiana has Domantas Sabonis, who is averaging 19.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game this season, while Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 25.8 points and 12.0 rebounds.
Tyson Chandler finished Wednesday’s game at center after Capela exited, posting an impressive nine rebounds in 16 minutes. At practice, D’Antoni said Chandler would start in Capela’s place.
At 37 years old and in his 19th season, however, Chandler is unlikely to play anywhere close to Capela’s average of 30.2 minutes per game. And with Sabonis and Towns looming, it seems doubtful that D’Antoni would play the majority of both games without a center.
Moreover, D’Antoni’s preferred smaller lineups with P.J. Tucker at center are complicated at the moment by the back injury to Danuel House Jr., who often slides to power forward when Tucker is in the middle. House is doubtful for Friday after sitting out Wednesday.
Danuel House Jr. is doubtful vs. Indiana. #Rockets
Thus, the Rockets may have no choice but to turn to young seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein to fill at least some of Capela’s usual minutes. The third-year center has averaged 24.0 points (59.6% shooting), 16.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game this season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s NBA G League affiliate.
Hartenstein has yet to play in the NBA this season, though he did play sparingly in 28 games in the 2018-19 season. Given the size and skill of this weekend’s opposing bigs, D’Antoni could be forced to roll the dice and experiment with Houston’s athletic 21-year-old prospect.
Isaiah Hartenstein started right where he left off
Veteran forward Ryan Anderson could be another short-term option, but he’s relatively undersized for a center at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds and doesn’t provide much rim protection or defensive value.
Taurean Prince isn’t buying into all of the hype surrounding Karl-Anthony Towns in 2019-20.
While Kyrie Irving’s 50-point performance in his Nets debut was the top highlight of Brooklyn’s 2019-20 season opener, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who led his team to a win in the 127-126 overtime finish at Barclays Center on October 23.
Like Irving, Towns knocked down seven 3-pointers in the opener — tying one another, along with Charlotte Hornets rookie P.J. Washington, for most 3-pointers in a season opener.
Minnesota is now 7-4 to start 2019-20, and Towns has appeared in nine of those 11 games. The big man is averaging 25.8 points per game on 48.4% shooting (40.7% from three), along with 12 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 steals per game.
With the Timberwolves among the top eight teams in the Western Conference standings, Towns is receiving a fair amount of credit. Typically, that will lead to social media praise at any opportunity — like when he and San Antonio Spurs forward Rudy Gay butted heads on Wednesday.
Each week, HoopsHype ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Find out who made this week’s rankings!
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who have entered the 2019-20 MVP discussion thanks to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out thus far? Who can sustain this production as the sample size increases? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Drummond has been dominant through the first 10 games of the season. It’s impressive when a player has a single 20-point, 20-rebound performance, but the 26-year-old is nearly averaging that. He’s scored 20 or more points in six games, and he’s grabbed 20 or more rebounds in five games. He’s also doing a good job of finding open teammates, as he’s averaging 5.4 assists in November (and he has 25 assists in his last four games). Drummond is posting video-game numbers and shows no sign of slowing down. The Pistons are getting Blake Griffin back from injury, which should only help them as they look to improve their record (4-6) and climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
Towns missed two games due to his suspension for fighting Joel Embiid, but he’s been a beast in the seven contests in which he’s played. He’s posting career-highs across the board and he’s been able to score the ball with ease this season, inside and out. In fact, Towns has more than doubled his three-point attempts (from 4.6 last year to 9.3 this year), yet his three-point percentage has stayed at 40.0 percent. His 3.7 threes per game is fourth in the NBA behind only James Harden (4.3), Damian Lillard (4.0) and Kemba Walker (3.8). Minnesota is currently 5-4, which is ninth-best in the Western Conference and just two games out of first place.
HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina recently wrote a great article breaking down Booker’s impressive start to the season and what he’s doing differently this year. The 23-year-old is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, finishing in the paint better than ever and locking down opponents on the defensive end. Newcomers Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio have made a huge difference for Booker too. The Suns are the NBA’s biggest surprise thus far, sitting at 6-3 with the league’s third-best offense (scoring 109.1 points per 100 possessions) and ninth-best defense (allowing 101.1 points per 100 possessions). There’s no question that Booker is a huge reason for their early success. The red-hot Suns will face off against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in a game that will feature three players from this list.
Harden is once again leading the league in scoring. The main issue for Harden (and the reason he isn’t higher on this list) has been his shooting percentages. He’s currently shooting an ugly 39.4 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which are career-lows. It’s taking him 24.2 field goal attempts (and 14.4 three-point attempts) per game to get to his 37.1 scoring average. Those numbers must drastically improve if he wants to compete for this year’s MVP award. There’s always an adjustment period when a team is integrating a new star and that’s what Harden and the Rockets are doing with Russell Westbrook. Still, Houston is 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference.
There’s a reason LeBron James badly wanted to team up with this guy. Davis is once again filling the stat sheet and making his presence felt all over the court, helping the Lakers win seven of their first nine games. He gives opposing head coaches nightmares, as he’s been the best rim protector in the league and he’s scoring at will. Davis is currently ranked first in Defensive Win Shares (0.9) and third in Win Shares (1.7, tied with James). He’s new to the Lakers and still getting acclimated, but you’d never know it based on his early play. It remains to be seen if voters will dock points from James and/or Davis because they’re on the same team. Opposing teams certainly hate that these two stars teamed up, as they’ve struggled to slow them down thus far.
Lillard is having the best season of his career, but he can only do so much for the Blazers. He’s getting little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are 4-6 and in 10th place in the Western Conference despite Lillard playing out of his mind. That was on display in Portland’s recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets, when Lillard had 60 points (including 7 threes), 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep, but the Nets won 119-115. Injuries have been an issue for the Blazers, but they also have a new-look roster after losing Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, Enes Kanter and Seth Curry among others. Still, Lillard is averaging the second-most points in the league while also ranking first in Win Shares (2.4) and second in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1).
Leonard’s decision to sit out the nationally televised showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks relaunched the load-management debate. It seems that Leonard will continue to sit out during back-to-backs to ensure that he’s 100 percent for the playoffs. Leonard credits load management for his monster 2019 postseason with the Toronto Raptors and while this is probably a smart move for the Clippers, it likely means Leonard won’t have a shot at winning this year’s MVP award. Voters seem to disqualify players who rest, regardless of how productive they are when they play. HoopsHype looked at the last 15 MVP winners and they missed an average of 3.93 games in their MVP season (with no player missing more than 10 games). Leonard missed 22 games last season and he’s on pace to miss 18 contests this year, which would seemingly remove him from the MVP discussion (like last year). Still, Leonard is playing well and the Clippers are 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the West. If the Clippers stop resting Leonard – or the NBA decides that he’s healthy and must play – perhaps he becomes a serious candidate.
Doncic is the only player in the league who currently ranks Top 11 in points per game (sixth), assists per game (second) and rebounds per game (11th). As if Luka’s counting stats weren’t impressive enough, his advanced stats jump off the page as well: Doncic ranks third in Value Over Replacement Player (1.0), fourth in Box Plus/Minus (10.3) and fifth in Win Shares (1.6). The 20-year-old is the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 or more triple-doubles, passing LeBron James and Magic Johnson. He also became the second player with at least three 20-point triple-doubles in the first six games of a season, joining Oscar Robertson. Doncic must continue to limit his turnovers (4.9 per game) and improve his three-point percentage (32.1 percent on 8.7 attempts per game). But that feels like nitpicking when the kid is nearly averaging a triple-double and winning games for the Mavericks, who are 6-3 (which is tied for the third-best record in the West).
Antetokounmpo had an MVP performance in the Bucks’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After struggling in the first half, Antetokounmpo ripped his jersey and kicked a hole in a Thunder sign while walking back to the locker room at halftime. In the second half, MVP Giannis showed up and he finished the game with 35 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 threes, 1 block and 1 steal while shooting an efficient 68.4 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. Antetokounmpo has now scored 30 or more points in five-straight games. The Bucks are 7-3, which puts them in third place in the Eastern Conference and just one game back from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo currently leads all players in Value Over Replacement Player (1.3), Box Plus/Minus (13.9) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.325).
As Tommy Beer of Forbes recently pointed out, no player in NBA history has ever averaged more than 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in their age-35 season. Well, James is currently posting those marks with ease (24.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists). When all is said and done, one could make the argument that James was the best teenager in NBA history (he holds the NBA record for most career points, rebounds and assists before turning 20 years old) and the best mid-30s player in NBA history (if he keeps this up). LeBron’s longevity is remarkable; in the load-management era, he’s playing 35.1 minutes per game, which is the most of any Laker and 12th-most in the league. James is currently No. 1 on this list because his individual production has been impressive and it’s translated into team success, as the Lakers currently have the NBA’s second-best record at 7-2. One area where James must improve is his three-point shooting; he’s attempting 5.2 threes per game, but he’s making just 31.9 percent thus far.
