Minnesota Timberwolves are coming into today’s match after finally breaking their losing streak of 4 games with a win over Dallas Mavericks (101:92). At the moment they sit at 13th spot in the West, with a record of 12-26. Timberwolves were not in a great spot with a long losing streak. In the course of 4 games they failed to win over Trail Blazers (89:95), 76ers (93:91), Wizards (112:105) and Jazz (92:94). Two of the matches were really close, but when you draw a line a defeat is still a defeat and a sign of needed improvements. Going back to Minnesota Timberwolves game against Dallas, they seemed to finally find their rhythm and won their 1st game out of last 5. Minnesota got their lead in the first 12 minutes and held the lead till the end. Dallas did manage to reduce the gap to 7 points in 3rd quarter, but they did not achieve much more throughout the match. Minnesota shot a solid 56.3% from the field, committed 18 turnovers and got 11 steals. Dallas on the other side shot 46.2% from the field with 14 turnovers and 3 steals. Top scorers; Towns (34pts), Barnes (30pts) and Nowitzki (26pts). However a win against Dallas is not really a big sign of improvement in my eyes, as Mavericks seem to be struggling this season (11-27) and are currently on a 3 game losing streak, with only 1 match won out of last 5. Winning against a team that is positioned at the bottom of the league and winning against a team such as Houston (9-1 record in the last 10 games) is a completely different story.
Houston Rockets are as mentioned before one of the best teams looking at past 10 games, with a record of 9-1. Even the record of the past 20 games is astonishing, with only 2 losses. It’s without a say Houston came into this season to leave a mark, and if they continue this way I don’t dare to say they don’t have a great chance to play in finals. Of course season is not nearly over yet and we will just have to wait and see how it all runs out. Looking at the match against Hornets, Houston got their lead in the 1st quarter (32-26) and added another 14 points by the end of 1st half with a strong 2nd quarter (35:21). By that point Hornets realised they need to step up their game if they wish to stay in the match and they did. In 3rd quarter Hornets outscored Houston by 3 (29-32) and had even better 4th quarter (25:35). Despite their good effort the margin was too big to come from and the game ended with the score 121:114, thus adding another win to Houston record. Houston Rockets shot 48.8% from the field, committed 10 turnovers and stole the ball 8 times, Hornets had a bit lower FG% (47.8%), 10 turnovers and only 3 steals.
Verdict & Prediction
This will be a really hard match for Timberwolves. They can be happy with their recent win, but they will need to give 110% if they wish to stand against Houston tonight. Houston are coming directly from their last match so that might help Timberwolves a bit. But however you look at this match, Houston are a superior team compared to Minnesota and they will surely show that.
Prediction: Houston Rockets -3 points
Odds: 1.86 SBOBET
