Shorthanded Wolves beat Rockets 92-79
Big win for Minnesota
In a game characterized by sloppy play and surprising performances, the Minnesota Timberwolves were less sloppy and more surprising than the Houston Rockets, defeating them 92-79 on Saturday night. The loss was Houston's seventh in a row and Houston dropped to 1-11 against Western conference opponents. Their sole victory came against Minnesota in Target Center on Dec 26.
With Minnesota ravaged by injuries (Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Alexey Shved, Chase Budinger, Brandon Roy, and Malcolm Lee), sickness (Dante Cunningham), and missing their head coach, Rick Adelman, they got crucial and surprising contributions down the stretch from two players just signed this week to 10 day contracts, Chris Johnson and Mickael Gelabale. Johnson and Gelabale scored the first 23 points of the fourth quarter for Minnesota, expanding Minnesota's three-point lead to 15. Andrei Kirilenko led Minnesota with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Luke Ridnour added 16 points for Minnesota.
The Houston Rockets were led by James Harden's 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. But he did not have his best game, shooting only 5-of-18 from the field and 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.