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 (17-44) 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 three 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 a game with a victory. They also appear to have a scheduling advantage as the home team and having not played since Saturday, whereas Minnesota will be on the second night of a back-to-back after hosting Utah on Monday.
For both the Timberwolves and Rockets, their odds in the NBA’s upcoming draft lottery will be identical as long as they finish the season within the league’s bottom three records. Thus, with each team currently well within that range, expect both to play hard as they seek to avoid the dubious distinction of being the league’s worst squad of 2021.
FWIW, finishing with the No. 2 or No. 3 worst record is also the best-case result, statistically. As long as Houston is in the bottom three, the only "added benefit" to the #Rockets being No. 1 would go to OKC. https://t.co/30lw2IF4jZ
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) April 26, 2021
Here’s when you should tune in to see Tuesday’s game:
- Date: Tuesday, April 27
- Time: 8 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- Live stream: fuboTV (watch for free in Houston markets)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets (15-46)
- Guard: John Wall
- Guard: Kevin Porter Jr.
- Forward: Jae’Sean Tate
- Forward: Kelly Olynyk
- Center: Christian Wood
Minnesota Timberwolves (17-44)
- Guard: Ricky Rubio
- Guard: Josh Okogie
- Forward: Anthony Edwards
- Forward: Jaden McDaniels
- Center: Karl-Anthony Towns
The Rockets will be much healthier than the short-handed version we last saw during Saturday’s loss at Denver. John Wall will return from a brief absence due to back-to-back maintenance, as will Christian Wood (right ankle soreness) and Kevin Porter Jr. (health and safety protocols). In effect, Houston will be regaining three starters.
According to Stephen Silas, Kevin Porter Jr. is out of COVID-19 protocols and was back at practice today. Christian Wood was also in practice today and both will be available for tomorrow's game against the T-Wolves.
— Coty M. Davis (@CotyDavis_24) April 26, 2021
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) remain 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.
Note: This post first appeared on Rockets Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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