HOUSTON – The Timberwolves played the Rockets three times in January, and even though Houston is the worst team in the league, none of the matchups were a breeze for the Wolves, including Monday.
The Wolves' lack of focus against Houston finally cost them in a 119-114 loss.
After the teams were tied at halftime, the Wolves committed 10 turnovers in the third quarter and fell behind by nine. They never made it all the way back despite cutting it to 100-99 in the fourth.
Jalen Green, who struggled on Saturday, finished with 42 points. D'Angelo Russell had 30 for Minnesota while Anthony Edwards had 31 points on 9-for-20 shooting. Center Rudy Gobert returned from a three-game absence to score 15 points and grab 15 rebounds.
The Wolves came out disinterested from the start as Houston opened up a 9-0 lead before leading by as much as 12 in the first quarter.
Edwards finally woke up the Wolves late in the first as he helped cut that deficit to 31-26 by the end of the quarter. Edwards had 10 first-half points, all in the first quarter. Russell helped erase the rest of that deficit as he buried five triples for 19 first-half points.
The teams went into the locker room tied at 56, but the Wolves came out uninspired in the third. Nothing spoke to that more than the 10 turnovers they committed. Kyle Anderson and Jaden McDaniels had to go to the bench in foul trouble and thanks to that, the Rockets posted 34 points and took a 90-81 lead into the fourth.
