The Houston Rockets are 2-0 up after a comfortable 102-82 victory in the second game of the first round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, April 18. The Rockets easily covered the spread at -10.5, while the game went under the total of 214.5 points. Mike D’Antoni’s side is now in a strong position to advance to the second round as the series moves to Minneapolis.
Game Recap
Minnesota displayed a strong performance in the opening quarter and limited the hosts to only 18 points, but the Rockets responded in the second period and scored 37 in opposite to the Wolves’ 17. It was evident that the visitors couldn’t cope with Houston who held them to under 20 points in the third, and the biggest reason for just 82 points from Minnesota was a miserable outside shooting as they made five out of 18 attempts (27.8%).
On the other hand, the Rockets weren’t accurate from the field (36.5%), but hit 11 more threes (16-52), and recorded seven more assists (22-15), while the Wolves committed seven turnovers more (16-9).
Chris Paul led Houston with 27 points, eight dimes, and three steals; Gerald Green posted a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, Trevor Ariza added 15 points and five boards, while James Harden had a terrible shooting night (2-18 FG, 1-10 3PT) and finished the tilt with just 12 points. It was Harden’s second-worst performance of the season as he previously also came against Minnesota when he scored ten points on January 19. Surprisingly, Nemanja Bjelica led the Wolves with 16 points, eight rebounds, and a couple of thefts off the bench; Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 13 points, eight boards, and three assists, while Jimmy Butler had 11 points and four rebounds.
Houston’s odds to win the NBA Championship can be found at BetDSI and they are pegging the Rockets at +150, which means that Mike D’Antoni’s men one of the most serious contenders to lift the NBA title this year, along with Golden State. They are +100 to win the Western Conference, while Minnesota is +15000 to win the NBA title, and the Wolves are +10000 to clinch the Western Conference.
