Timberwolves at Rockets: Game #70

Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets

Friday, March 18, 2016, 7:00pm CT

Toyota Center, Houston, TX

TV: Fox Sports North, NBA League Pass

The Timberwolves can head home with a 3-1 road trip and wins over three playoff teams if they manage to beat the Houston Rockets tonight in Houston. In the teams' first meeting this season, the Rockets squeezed out a 107-104 win in Houston. Andrew Wiggins had 28 points in the loss to lead the Wolves, while James Harden unsurprisingly paced the Rockets with 27.

The Rockets enter this game 5-5 in their last ten games and clinging to the 7 seed in the Western Conference as the season draws to a close. They are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the 8 seed, and both teams are just a game ahead of the Utah Jazz (but also only a game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the 6 seed). It's been a largely disappointing season for Houston, but enough teams in the West have struggled that they're well within the playoff picture.

Recently, former Timberwolf Michael Beasley has been putting in solid minutes for Houston, and taking a lot of shots. This seems like an unfortunate time for a trademark revenge game by a former Wolf, and/or for Beas to go 0/15 from the field and take several abysmal shots. Other than that, stopping James Harden seems like a pretty solid key to victory. Harden remains one of the best scorers in the NBA, and the Rockets are 5-11 when he is held to 22 or fewer points.

Expected Lineups

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