Timberwolves at Rockets
Dwight Howard will miss his second consecutive game when the Houston Rockets host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. Howard (ankle) sat out his first game of the season when Houston trounced the Utah Jazz on Monday and had a cyst removed from his left ankle the following day, and is aiming to return against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. Minnesota has won consecutive games and is two games above .500 for the first time since being 8-6 in late November.
Point guard Ricky Rubio put together his third career triple-double with 22 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds as the Timberwolves posted a 123-122 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Minnesota needs to put together a strong finishing kick as it stands 5 1/2 games behind Dallas and the Memphis Grizzlies for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Rockets had lost a season-worst three consecutive games before the convincing 124-86 victory over the Jazz. Houston is 27-7 at home and stands two games behind the third-place Los Angeles Clippers in the West.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN Houston
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (34-32): All-Star forward Kevin Love scored 35 points and connected on the decisive shot in overtime as Minnesota avoided falling back to .500. The Timberwolves have gone 10-4 since losing 107-89 to the Rockets on Feb. 10 and have no margin for error after hovering just shy of the .500 mark for a large part of the season. Center Nikola Pekovic (ankle) is expected to miss his third straight game as he continues to struggle to stay healthy. Pekovic missed 13 games with a foot injury before returning on March 1.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (45-22): Omer Asik moved into the starting lineup against Utah with Howard out and had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Asik will start again versus the Timberwolves and leading scorer James Harden doesn’t see why Howard’s absence should be an issue. “Nothing changes,” Harden said. “Omer was our starting center last year. He knows what he’s doing and he’s one of the best centers in the league.” Power forward Terrence Jones also stepped up against the Jazz with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Houston has won four of the past five meetings, including two double-digit victories earlier this season.
2. Rookie C Gorgui Dieng has recorded back-to-back doubles-doubles while filling in for Pekovic.
3. Rockets SF Chandler Parsons is averaging just 5.7 points on 8-of-25 shooting over the past three games.