Timberwolves at Rockets
The Houston Rockets bounced back from a rare loss to post their 10th win in 11 games on Friday and still have an outside shot at the top seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets will try to keep rolling when they finish up a four-game homestand by hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Houston dropped a 106-104 decision to the West-leading Golden State Warriors on Wednesday but began a stretch of four straight games against sub-.500 opponents by holding off the Phoenix Suns in Friday's 108-102 triumph. Superstar guard James Harden broke out with 41 points in the victory, snapping a rare string of three straight games scoring under 30 points. The Timberwolves are coming to the end of a three-game road trip and fell at Denver and Utah in the first two stops by an average of 23 points. The bright spot continues to be All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who recorded a double-double in each of the losses.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS North (Minnesota), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (32-37): Minnesota got caught up in the "bomb cyclone" in the middle of the country during its travel and ended up spending a day at the airport prior to the 120-100 loss at Utah on Thursday. "We still got some growing pains and still got to sort some things out offensively, defensively," veteran forward Taj Gibson told reporters. "But if you want to give us that (travel delay) as an excuse you could give us that excuse. But I feel we had plenty of times and different methods to win the game." The Timberwolves allowed the Nuggets to shoot 60 percent from the floor in Tuesday's 133-107 loss and let the Jazz go off at 49.4 percent.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (43-26): Houston limited Phoenix to 17 points in the fourth quarter of Friday's triumph, and Harden is looking for that defensive effort throughout the game. "Just got to be more consistent with demanding stops," Harden told reporters. "We do it when we need to, but we need to do it throughout the course of the game. That'll take our game to another level." Harden, who is questionable for Sunday due to a cervical strain, added 11 assists, nine rebounds, six steals and three blocks to his 41 points against the Suns to carry the team while point guard Chris Paul sat out to rest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves SF Andrew Wiggins (thigh) returned from a three-game absence on Thursday and scored 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting in 30 minutes.
2. Rockets SF Danuel House Jr. returned from a stint in the G League and scored 18 points in 35 minutes on Friday.
3. Minnesota took each of the first two meetings this season by an average of 11 points - both at home.