Three Takeaways from the Rockets' Shocking Loss to The Timberwolves

The Houston Rockets’ winning streak came to an end with a surprising 136-132 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Toyota Center on Friday night where Amen Thompson's career night was not enough. The Rockets drop to 51-30 on the season with one game left.

The winning streak is snapped at eight straight for Houston, who’ll look to rebound in the final game of the regular season on Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s all but a lock for the Rockets for fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

While Anthony Edwards was available for this game, the Timberwolves injury report was loaded as Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Bones Hyland were all out due to injury. However, the Rockets got their first look at Ayo Dusunmo. Even with all the injuries, Houston was unable to take advantage.

The Timberwolves have given the Rockets issues lately, as they lost the season series. This was the team Houston gave up a huge 13-point overtime lead to in the last meeting, the largest in NBA history.

Kevin Durant added 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Durant also crossed 2000 points in a season in this game. Here are three takeaways.

Paint Presence

Apr 10, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joan Beringer (19) defends agaisnt Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Alperen Sengun got to work early in the paint. The Timberwolves took the early lead and remained competitive in the first quarter. The Rockets dominated early inside with 34 paint points at around the start of the second quarter, and had 48 of them by halftime.

Houston ended up with an incredible 86 points in the paint total and was plus 22 in that battle. As a result, the Rockets shot 61 percent from the field and attempted only 18 threes. Houston only made four triples.

The Rockets also dominated the boards with a 39-26 advantage in rebounding. Sengun scored 22 points on 10/13 shooting along with six rebounds and eight assists.

Rockets Two-Way Star Leading the Way

Thompson’s career-high 41 points was amazing on the night, but it unfortunately wasn’t enough for the win.

Thompson was electric in the first half with 24 points. That was a game high in the first 24 minutes. Thompson was 10/14 from the field and was 4/4 from the free-throw line during the first half.

He even got to his midrange shot and that looked great. Thompson added 17 in the second overall. Overall, he was 17/22 (77 percent) from the field along with nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block in 41 minutes.

It was a very high scoring first half at 73-69.

Edwards, T-Wolves Clutch

Edwards scored 22 points on 7/14 from the field, but also hit three 3-pointers. The final one was a dagger late in the fourth quarter. The key difference was from beyond the arc. The Timberwolves shot 50 percent from downtown on a 15/30 mark. Minnesota hit 11 more threes than Houston.

The Rockets also had 12 turnovers, and that gave 17 points to the Timberwolves. Houston went down 10 in the fourth quarter and were unable to close out the deficit. The Rockets got outscored 33-26 in the final frame. Terrance Shannon Jr. was the leading scorer for Minnesota with 23 points off the bench.