Houston Needs a Win to Start Stretch off Right

The Houston Rockets are entering the late stages of the season, and they are still firmly in the mix for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After holding the second seed for several weeks, the Rockets look to finish higher in the standings than where they sit at No. 4 in the Western Conference. Their mission begins with a difficult game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have won two of three games against Houston this season.

To tie the season series against the Timberwolves, the Rockets will look to accomplish several goals throughout the game.

One of their most important goals is to limit the impact of Minnesota's star guard, Anthony Edwards. In Houston's two losses, the Timberwolves' stars dominated; Julius Randle led the game in scoring with 27 points followed by Edwards with 24. Both players made tough shot against the Rockets, especially late in the game.

Randle and his teammate from New York, Donte DiVincenzo, will miss the Friday night game against the Rockets. However, Edwards is talented enough to drive his team to victories with his scoring and defense. In Houston's second loss to Minnesota, Edwards scored 41 points and inspired his team to take over in the fourth quarter for a double-digit victory.

The Rockets' second goal is related to how the Timberwolves play when one of their stars is missing. Houston will need to shut down the reserves and role players to give themselves a chance at victory against last year's Western Conference Finalists. In Edwards' 41-point game, his teammates supported him as five players scored 12 or more points. Naz Reid is a name to watch; he scored 19,14, and 15 points respectively. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is another player who contributes to Minnesota's offense. Jayden McDaniels and Mike Conley aren't consistent factors on offense, but they do have flashes of strong offensive performances.

Houston will have its hands full dealing with the dynamic Edwards. It can't afford to struggle with bench players and role players in the starting lineup. Amen Thompson and Dillon Brooks will likely draw the assignment to guard Edwards, so the rest of the team will need to focus on keeping Minnesota's bench from having a great scoring night.

The third goal Houston should try to accomplish is getting star-level scoring from its players. Fred VanVleet will likely miss the game, so Alperen Sengun won't get the same opportunities he usually does on the pick-and-roll. Sengun put up star numbers with 38 points in Houston's one-point loss to the Timberwolves. Jalen Green followed with 28 points in a blowout defeat in the next game. The Rockets need that level of scoring from its stars to match the scoring Minnesota will likely get from its best player.

The Rockets need a victory against Minnesota to give themselves a chance to stay in the Western Conference standings race. The last thing Houston wants is to drop a game directly after the All-Star Break.

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