Rockets (12-6) vs Timberwolves (8-8) recap and reaction

Rockets vs Timberwolves 

This is a really fun matchup to start. These two teams feel very similar in the their identities, at least with last year's Wolves team, but I loved this matchup from the beginning when looking at the schedule this week. The Rockets right now sit in the 3 seed of the Western Conference and has been lead by the defense and rebounding so far this season. Amen Thompson and Tari Eason off the bench has been great for Houston so far this year. The Wolves have stumbled a little bit out of the gate. 8-8 isn't a record to scuff at, but in the West that would have you in the play-in at this point. The Wolves shooting and defense have been at the fore front of their problems so far to begin the year, but the hope is they can turn it around pretty soon. Let's dive into the recap. 

Recap

The Wolves had Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jaden McDaniels start for them. The Rockets put out their lineup of Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillion Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun. The start of the game was pretty slow, but the matchups I really liked to watch was the Rudy Gobert and Alperen Sengun, and Jalen Green and Anthony Edwards. Gobert and Sengun matchup is more to my liking for game purposes and the Edwards and Green for a little bit of discourse. Sengun is great in the post and he's extremely crafty with his footwork on the block and has the Jokic mold that the Rockets really love out of him. Gobert is the reigning defensive player of the year so that's a fun matchup. The Green and Edwards matchup is for discourse purposes and something I think Green should really look at as a player mold. He's been off to a slow start this season. I mentioned him very early in the season for Roze's 5 Things and I felt like this was the season for his jump. The shooting  has just not happened yet. He's below 40% from the floor and 33% from 3 so far and I really think his offensive game and ability is what takes the Rockets to the next level because they do have some lulls on offense frequently and if he's able to just get off for a quick 8 or 10 points then he can float the boat. I'm a big fan of his game and I just feel like the jump for him should happen relatively soon. Houston jumped out to nice lead early in the game. The defense really gets them going and head coach Ime Udoka has really gotten this group going on that end of the ball. The offense, however, has some slow lulls, but VanVleet's veteran presents really helps, Brooks is shooting the ball great so far this season. He's stayed within himself on the shot selection and really helped the Rockets after his public release from the Grizzlies two seasons ago. Jabari Smith Jr. Has taken steps forward in being a great glue guy for the Rockets. He's 6'10 with great ability to stretch the floor and he really opens everything up for Sengun on the inside. For the Wolves, they've really struggled on offense, mainly shooting from 3, and defense. KAT isn't a great defender, but losing him has shown the wolves their flaws on defense in Naz Reid. Jaden McDaniels has slipped a little bit, along with Edwards in this side of the ball, Gobert too. The Wolves started the game pretty lazy in this one they got down early in the game and it saw them have to fight back in the first quarter. The Rockets lead 32-26 at the end of the first and used the early start to key the second quarter. Rob Dillingham saw minutes in this one due to Mike Conley dealing with injury. Dillingham feels like he could stick in the lineup too. The Wolves draft him 8th after trading up with Spurs and giving them a 2031 first round pick. I think Dillingham gives them the shooting they desperately need right now. Obviously, the defense and overall newness of the NBA causes some issues that Conley can solve, but Conley has not been good this season and the Wolves drafted Dillingham to fill this role when they moved on from Conley. Reid and Edwards were able to pull the Wolves back in this one. They did a great job of knocking down shots and creating for others. The offense is really good when these two are attacking and the ball moves. Obviously, Randle is gonna be much more isolation heavy compared to KAT, but I'd like to see like 10% less isolation and go into a handoff or pick and roll with Edwards and Reid. The Rockets however were able to build their lead behind the bench and mainly Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. These two have been terrific for the Rockets and have really picked up the bench unit and have destroyed other teams bench units as well. I know I'm stealing this stat, but it is something I noticed as well. Green replaced with Thompson with the starters in 53 minutes is plus 38. WOW and then replace Eason with Smith in a lineup that includes Thompson, VanVleet, Brooks, and Sengun is plus 32 in 19 minutes as well. After Eason and Thompson checked out. Brooks and Smith carried the Rockets to halftime with some great shot making and defense. The Rockets lead 57-47 at halftime. Edwards had 13 points and Reid had 12 points to lead the Wolves. The Rockets were lead by VanVleet, 16 points, Smith, 13 points, and Brooks, 10 points. I loved how the Rockets really got after the Wolves in the first half and closed on a nice run. The third quarter saw the Rockets really stretch out the Wolves on defense. The Wolves have not been good at this end of the floor this season. They were the league's number 1 defense last season, but have now fallen to 15th a year later. The shot making from Brooks and Sengun on the inside really had the Rocket jump out ahead. Sengun was putting Gobert in the cup. I liked the Rocket using some nice scissor handoff action with Sengun at the top of the key. VanVleet would hit him and he would smoke the handoff and VanVleet would screen Green on the opposite side for a nice zoom action that saw Sengun and Green get some easy looks. The Rockets eventually grew the lead out to 18 points, but the Wolves would fight back. They picked up the intensity on defense and got out in transition very good as well. They forced some turnovers on the Rockets and closed the quarter on a 9-0 run. Houston would enter the 4th quarter leading 84-78. The 4th quarter also saw some interesting matchups for the Wolves. They started playing Gobert on Amen Thompson and Randle on Sengun. They really wanted to roam off non-shooters like they did with the KAT-Gobert tandem from last season. Sengun is a phenomenal passer so the chess match on the doubles when he started backing down  on Randle were fun to watch. Dillingham also had a really nice second half for the Timberwolves. He played a big part in this and Donte DiVincenzo only played 21 minutes in the game as well. Dillingham and Nickeil Alexander-Walker filled in the missing DiVincenzo minutes down the stretch. The Wolves really affected the Houston offense. The inconsistent shooting for the Rockets can really prolonged any type of scoring for them and has been the biggest concern thus far with them. The Wolves were up 102-97 with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in the game. A VanVleet three made it 102-100 with 2 minutes left. Randle had an offensive foul and Thompson made a layup to tie it at 102. Edwards missed a floater at the buzzer and we were headed to overtime. The Wolves were held scoreless the last 2 minutes and 30 seconds of regulation. The beginning of overtime was really slow and both teams took a while to score. The Wolves lead 105-102, but then the Rockets went on a run. Thompson hit a three, a transition bucket, then Sengun had a layup, Brooks had a layup, and Sengun had another bucket to make it 113-105 in favor of Houston. The 11-0 Rockets run  basically ended the game and Rockets went on to win 117-111 and clinch West group A in the NBA Cup. VanVleet had 27 points and Sengun had a 20 point triple-double for Houston. The Wolves were lead by Edwards with 29 points, Randle with 21 points , and Reid with 19 points. The Rocket move to 13-6 on the season (tied with the Warriors) and third place in the West, while the Wolves fall to 8-9 and 12th in the Western Conference. 

Reaction

The Rockets are very good. The defense is real, Green, Smith, and Sengun have really dialed in on that side of the ball so far this year. Brooks, Thompson, and Eason have been amazing on that end as well. The offense still has some lumps, but Fred VanVleet doesn't get enough credit for how well he gets them into sets and has guys in the spots they need to be in. He hasn't shot it well this season, but his leadership has been noticeable. The lineups where Green and Thompson essentially switch places with the units have worked really well. Rockets offense still has its flaws, but with Sengun and VanVleet getting others good shots I think they will manufacture enough points along with the great offensive rebounding numbers.

The Timberwolves look a little dead in the water. In their last game against the Celtics they had an opportunity to win the game, but couldn't. They also had a little thing between Gobert, and Randle versus the Blazers two games ago that was interesting. Gobert was posting a mismatch and Randle looked him off. Gobert wasn't happy and eventually was called for offensive 3 seconds causing a turnover. Edwards then got on Gobert. At the time the game was 95-95 and after the incident the Blazers went on an 11-1 run. I've already noted the shooting woes from McDaniels, DiVincenzo, and Conley and I really think if they start hitting shots the offense looks  a lot different, but they need to figure out the defense. They've been poor in the paint and have not stopped anyone during their 3 game losing streak. Life comes at you fast in the Western Conference.