Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves: Match Preview and Predictions - 16th November 2019
Match details
Fixture: Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Date & Time: Saturday, November 16th, 2019 (8:00 PM. ET.)
Venue: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Last game results
Houston Rockets (8-3): 111-102 victory over the Indiana Pacers (Friday, November 15th, 2019)
Minnesota Timberwolves (7-5): 116-137 loss against the Washington Wizards (Friday, November 15th, 2019)
Houston Rockets Preview:
The Houston Rockets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. They come into Saturday night's clash against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the back of a six-game winning streak. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are 4-2 on the road. James Harden is once again an MVP candidate and scored 44 points in 40 minutes on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers. Harden is averaging 38.6 points per game through Houston’s first 12 games.
Key Player – Austin Rivers
While James Harden is putting up MVP like numbers once again, players like Austin Rivers are the ones who will help Houston go deep into the 2020 playoffs. The Rockets only have seven players who play 20 or more minutes per game and Rivers is one of them at 21.5 minutes. Further, with Eric Gordon gone for six weeks with knee trouble, there are very few Rockets players getting minutes in head coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation.
Austin Rivers needs to contribute as much as he can to the Rockets’ cause. He was averaging 6.9 points a game and then scored 10 points against Indiana Friday night. In a funny note, he helped get his dad and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers ejected from a game earlier this week when Houston beat the Clippers 102-93 Wednesday night.
Rockets predicted lineup
Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Danuel House, Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker.
Minnesota Timberwolves Preview
The Minnesota Timberwolves have started the season 7-5 and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. On Friday night, the Timberwolves suffered a double-digit loss to the Washington Wizards 137-116. It was a high scoring affair with Washington leading the game at the half with a 76-73 score.
The Timberwolves got a double-double out of Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 36 points and 10 rebounds. He had 25 points at the half. The Timberwolves were without Andrew Wiggins Friday night and may have to do without him Saturday night as well as he has been granted time away from the team due to personal reasons.
Key Player – Karl-Anthony Towns
With Andrew Wiggins being unavailable to lead the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns will be leaned upon to carry the team. For his part, Towns is averaging 26.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game in the 10 he has played for the T-wolves this season. Towns shot a great 40.7% from three-point range and he was 4/6 in Friday night’s game from deep and an efficient 13/18 from the field overall.
Timberwolves predicted lineup
Jeff Teague, Jarrett Culver, Robert Covington, Treveon Graham, Karl-Anthony Towns.
Rockets vs Timberwolves Match Prediction
This will be the second game of a back-to-back for both teams. However, it will be interesting to see just how much Mike D’Antoni uses his bench in this clash. James Harden is averaging over 38 points a game and scored 44 Friday against the Pacers and could be a huge problem for the T-wolves.
As for the Timberwolves, they need to replace Andrew Wiggins' 25 points a night to ensure Karl-Anthony Towns has adequate support offensively. They will need to defend better than they did Friday, against the Wizards, when Washington got 44 points from Bradley Beal and 30 points from Moritz Wagner. The Rockets have more firepower and should beat the Timberwolves.
Where to watch Rockets vs Timberwolves?
You can stream the game live online with NBA League Pass. The game can be watched on tv on Fox Sports North, and AT&T Sportsnet.