Timberwolves edge Rockets
Minnesota outscored Houston 136–132 in a high‑scoring game that underlines the Wolves’ offensive ceiling and the Rockets’ defensive questions. (x.com) The result matters for seeding chatter and momentum as both clubs head into the final day of the regular season. (x.com)
Minnesota hung 136 points on Houston without Julius Randle, and seven Timberwolves scored at least 15. Anthony Edwards had 22, Terrence Shannon Jr. had 23 off the bench, and the Rockets’ eight-game winning streak ended in their own building. Houston still got a career-high 39 points from Amen Thompson, which is the part that makes the score stranger. A team can survive one star going off; it usually loses when the other side gets production from almost every spot on the floor. This was not a game where Minnesota needed one impossible shot diet from Edwards. It was a game where the Timberwolves looked like a lineup of open taps, with Houston unable to turn off enough of them before the clock ran out. The timing is what gives the result extra weight. Entering the final weekend, Houston had already clinched a top-six playoff spot, while Minnesota was still sitting sixth in the Western Conference and trying to avoid the play-in squeeze behind it. As of April 10, Houston was 50-29 and fifth in the West, and Minnesota was 47-33 and sixth. That put the Rockets in the middle of a first-round matchup scramble, while the Timberwolves were still one bad night away from dropping into the play-in traffic behind Phoenix, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland, and Golden State. That is why 136 allowed is the number Houston will stare at more than 132 scored. The Rockets have enough young shot creation to win a fast game, but a playoff series punishes every missed rotation the way a seven-game chess match punishes one loose move. For Minnesota, the more interesting clue is that this happened short-handed. Randle missed a second straight game with right hand soreness, and the Timberwolves still produced one of those nights that reminds opponents they do not need one player to reach a ceiling score. The regular season now closes Sunday, April 12, with Memphis at Houston and New Orleans at Minnesota. Houston knows it is in the playoffs, Minnesota knows it is in the top six, and this game still changed the mood around both teams: one walked out with proof of depth, the other with 136 reasons to clean up its defense fast.
