According to head coach Stephen Silas, it’s a personal goal of his to avoid finishing with the NBA’s worst record. For the Houston Rockets (15-46) to pull that off, they will almost certainly need to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves (18-44) on Tuesday night at Toyota Center.
Minnesota currently owns the NBA’s second-worst record, and they have a much easier strength of schedule to close out the 2020-21 regular season. Thus, should the Rockets lose on Tuesday and go 3.5 games down with only 10 left to play, it’s hard to see them closing that gap.
On the other hand, the Rockets would close to within 1.5 games (and one in the loss column) with a victory. They also appear to have a scheduling advantage as the home team and having not played since Saturday, whereas Minnesota is on the second night of a split back-to-back after Monday’s impressive home victory over Utah.
The Rockets will be healthier than the short-handed version we last saw during Saturday’s loss at Denver, with Christian Wood (right ankle soreness) and Kevin Porter Jr. (health and safety protocols) each expected to return to the starting lineup. However, veteran guard John Wall is now expected to be lost for the season due to a hamstring pull.
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The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
- Point spread: Timberwolves -1.5
- Money line: Timberwolves -125 / Rockets +105
- Over-under: 233.5
- Player scoring props: TBD
Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.
According to the NBA’s official injury report, DJ Augustin (left ankle), Sterling Brown (left knee), Dante Exum (right calf), Eric Gordon (right groin), and David Nwaba (right wrist) are also out for Tuesday’s game. Meanwhile, Minnesota won’t issue its injury report until a few hours before tipoff, since they played Monday. For that game, only Malik Beasley (out, left hamstring) was listed on the report.
Led by Porter and Olynyk, the Rockets routed the Timberwolves when they last met on March 27 in Minnesota. In Tuesday’s rematch, they will try to draw upon that experience as Houston looks to do it again.
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Advice and prediction
Houston played relatively well in losses to a pair of Western Conference contenders (Clippers and Nuggets) on Friday and Saturday, despite being very short-handed in both games. In this one, they should be healthier and with a rest advantage, playing at home versus the West’s second-worst team. That feels like an opportunity for Porter and Wood.
Prediction: Rockets 117, Timberwolves 114
Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.
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