Timberwolves at Rockets
THE STORY: The Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets have already seen plenty of each other as they hook up Friday night for the fourth time this season. Minnesota has a 2-1 edge in the season series entering their latest showdown at the Toyota Center. The Rockets can only hope they've discovered a way to stop Timberwolves sensation Kevin Love, who is averaging 31 points on 64 percent shooting through the first three games of the head-to-head series.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Fox Sports North, Fox Sports Houston.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (14-16): Love's 30-point, 18-rebound performance lifted Minnesota past the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 102-90 on Wednesday night, marking his third 30-point effort in the past four games. It raised his scoring average to 25.5 points per game, good for fourth in the NBA. Love also ranks second in the league in rebounds, giving him an outside shot at becoming the first player to lead the NBA in scoring and rebounding since Wilt Chamberlain in 1965-66.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (17-13): Houston earned perhaps its biggest victory of the season on Wednesday, fending off the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 96-95. Friday marks the second of a six-game homestand for Houston, which is 11-3 at the Toyota Center. The Rockets badly need to put some victories together. With San Antonio on a nine-game winning streak and Dallas stringing together five straight Ws, Houston suddenly finds itself mired as the No. 3 team in Texas.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The winning team has averaged 115.7 points in the last nine encounters.
2. Rockets G Kevin Martin had one of his worst games of the season the last time these teams met, shooting 1 for 10 and finishing with two points in 31 minutes.
3. Both teams rank in the top five in league rebounding.