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2024-25 NBA Regular Season
Houston Rockets v Minnesota Timberwolves
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas
Saturday 22 February 2025
Tip-off at 04:30
Houston Rockets will be looking to refocus their efforts in the final two months of the season as they prepare to welcome Minnesota Timberwolves to the Toyota Center on the morning of Saturday, February 22.
The Rockets were the closest challengers to Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference at one stage, but they've dropped the ball this month, winning just two of their eight games and losing six on the spin.
Ime Udoka's team saw a two-game winning streak come to an end with a 105-98 defeat to Golden State Warriors on February 14, leaving them two and 2.5 games behind Denver Nuggets (3rd) and Memphis Grizzlies (2nd) respectively in fourth place.
Aaron Holiday scored a career-high 25 points against the Warriors, while Jock Landale (13), Nate Williams (11) and Jeff Green (10) added 34 off the bench as Udoka left starters Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Dillon Brooks riding the pine in the fourth quarter.
"First of all, you have to play with a certain amount of aggression, physicality and effort, or you don't give yourself a chance," Udoka said. "And that's what we did I would say the first 35-40 whatever games of the year.
"We did that and gave ourselves a chance every night and when we don't do that, you see what the results are lately, so that alone takes care of some things.
"But a lot of the same mistakes on both ends of the ball, lack of communication on defense, playing in a crowd or selfishness on offense. Whether it's intentional or unintentional it's wrong."
The Timberwolves find themselves just outside the playoff berths in the West, with Dallas Mavericks (8th), Sacramento Kings (9th) and Golden State Warriors (10th) also in the mix for a top-six finish.
Chris Finch's team halted a two-game skid with a 116-101 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder on February 14 despite being without four of their top eight scorers.
Naz Reid led the charge with a double-double 27 points and 13 rebounds, while first-round draft pick Terrence Shannon scored all 13 of his points in the first half as the first man off the bench.
"I think everybody who came in really did something to impact winning tonight," Finch said. "We had some amazing performances. I thought Jaden [McDaniels] and Naz were spectacular, TJ [Shannon] off the bench was good, Luka [Garza] gave us really good minutes too.
"I love how the young guys have been playing. We've got to try and maintain a role for them going forward, maybe not every one of them every night, but they've got to stay ready."
Houston Rockets v Minnesota Timberwolves - Head-to-head, Regular Season
Games played: 139
Rockets wins: 84
Timberwolves wins: 55
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