After a horrid start to the year, the Minnesota Timberwolves have started to turn things around in the first season of the Rudy Gobert era.
The peculiar part of their renewed energy and winning ways is the fact that they seem to be playing better in Karl-Anthony Towns’s absence.
It’ll be interesting to see how they dissect this period to figure out whether or not this is coincidental or a matter of how KAT fits alongside Gobert in this new iteration of their roster.
On January 21st, they’ll get a chance to add another W to their sterling 6-3 record since the start of the New Year, when they take on the struggling Houston Rockets at home in the Target Center.
While fans, pundits, and analysts all expected the Rockets to stink this season — purposefully in chase of lottery balls and the chance at a generational prospect like Victor Wembenyama, Scoot Henderson, or one of the Thompson twins — few probably expected the stench to be this abhorrent early on.
Despite a multitude of promising young talent including 2022 third-overall draft pick Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Kevin Porter Jr., Houston has struggled to turn all of their bright parts into a cohesive unit that can consistently string together competitive basketball games.
The young Rockets are currently on a 12-game losing streak and could legitimately match the record for the longest such run in NBA history, held by two teams who both notched 28 defeats in a row.
They’re certainly in danger of becoming the first team to finish with the worst record in the league for three consecutive seasons, as they currently have two fewer wins than both the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons at the time of writing.
While Minny hasn’t exactly sparked confidence in their new star core, they certainly have the ability to take advantage of a discombobulate Rockets squad. Another selling point in this matchup on Saturday is the fact that both of these teams will probably be looking to be heavily involved in February’s trade deadline.
Houston still Eric Gordon and a couple of dispensable young parts that might be better suited to playing on a more competitive team. As for the T-Wolves, while they’ve certainly been playing better as of late, they still have plenty roster holes and might be looking to move D’Angelo Russell for a better fit alongside Edwards, KAT, and Gobert.
❇️ STATEMENT SATURDAY ❇️
Wolves vs. Rockets
7pm CT, @TargetCenterMN
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— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 21, 2023
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| Title: Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves betting preview
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: Jan 21, 2023