Jalen Green led the Rockets in scoring with a career-high 42 points. Alperen Sengun...
Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards leaps while defending against Houston Rockets' Jae'Sean Tate during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Houston. The Rockets won 119-114.
With the final two minutes of the first half approaching, Jalen Green darted around an Alperen Sengun screen into the paint and came face-to-face with the human wall commonly known as Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Green searched in earnest for a shot, but when he could not find one, gave the ball up to Sengun. While Sengun put Jaden McDaniels in a spin cycle, Green relocated to the corner and splashed in a game-tying 3-pointer, assisted by Sengun, to erase the lead Minnesota had stolen. The Rockets built a 12-point lead in the first quarter, gave it away, and came back to tie the score in the second quarter. Finally, the Rockets got the lead back and did not relinquish it again, snapping a 13-game losing streak with a 119-114 win over the Timberwolves on Monday night at Toyota Center. Turnover issues undermined Houston’s 62-percent shooting clip in the first half, which ended tied at 56 as the Rockets struggled to score when Green and Sengun were not on the floor. The Rockets then staggered Green and Sengun for most of the second half, allowing Green to play the entire third quarter and expand the lead before giving him a break and bringing back Sengun to start the fourth quarter. Turnovers again threatened to stall the Rockets’ momentum in the fourth quarter, but they held on for the win as the Timberwolves were forced to slow down in a tight contest. After being held to 10 points in the previous game Saturday against Minnesota, Green led the Rockets with a career-high 42 points. Sengun scored 21 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. With Jabari Smith Jr. out for a second consecutive game, fellow rookie forward Tari Eason started in his place and scored 11 points. Eric Gordon, Jae’Sean Tate and Garrison Mathews scored in double figures as well. Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 31 points, while D’Angelo Russell had 30 points. Gobert, who did not play in the previous game against the Rockets, had 15 points and 16 rebounds.After his nightmarish game against the Timberwolves on Saturday, Green scored 21 points in Monday’s first half, his fourth 20-point half in the last five games he's played. He did not seem perpetually bothered by either the lengthy, pesky defense of McDaniels or the rim protection of Gobert, and frequently weaponized his speed and ambidextrous finishing to score in the paint. Green made a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Rockets a 90-81 lead. He played the entire third quarter and scored 10 points, before adding 11 more in the fourth. Perhaps the biggest adjustment from the last game, though, was Green’s improved judgment. He cut down his turnovers from six Saturday to one Monday and passed rather than try to navigate through crowds. The rest of the Rockets, too, did a good job at finding ways to get the ball back in Green’s hands later in possessions where he relinquished it.The Rockets did multiple times on Monday what they had failed to do dozens of times over the previous month: They withstood several prolonged runs by their opponent. The lead changed hands twice in the second half, with the Rockets carving out a 10-point advantage two minutes before the third quarter ended. The Timberwolves, however, surged back to cut it to one point midway through the fourth quarter and threatened into the game’s last minute.
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