Rockets likely to face a depleted Timberwolves. Key absences and questionable players leave Minnesota vulnerable. Can Houston capitalize and climb in the standings?
On Friday, April 10th, the Houston Rockets (51-29) penultimate game is against the Minnesota Timberwolves (47-33). On the second night of a back to back, they’re facing a very similar situation to the one they were in yesterday. Unfortunately Anthony Edwards is likely to miss all three matchups against the Rockets this season.
When: Friday, April 10th @ 8:30 PM CT
Where: Toyota Center, Houston
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video (with subscription)
Houston Rockets Injury Report:
Out: Steven Adams (Left Ankle Surgery Recovery)
Out: Fred VanVleet (Right Knee ACL Repair)
Minnesota Timberwolves Injury Report:
Questionable: Anthony Edwards (Right Knee Injury Maintenance)
Questionable: Julius Randle (Right Hand Soreness)
Questionable: Ayo Dosunmu (Right Calf Injury Maintenance)
Questionable: Bones Hyland (Right Hip Soreness)
Out: Joe Ingles (Personal Reasons)
Out: Rudy Gobert (Rest)
With Stephen Curry being a late scratch against the Lakers last night, LA was able to pick up an unexpected win. This means the Rockets are still tied with them at 51-29, but due to the tiebreaker, the Lakers are slotted in fourth place.
Let’s hope things change after tonight, but either way, Houston should aim to win ten straight to finish the season. Hosting the resting and recovering Wolves should give them their ninth consecutive victory.
Just a couple weeks ago, this game seemed like it would have immense implications on the season standings. After the utter disappointment of a loss to the Wolves, covered on Roundtable, each team had one win in the season series.
The Rockets were a whole game and a half behind Minnesota in the standings on March 26th, and now Houston sits four games ahead of the Wolves. A five and a half game swing in the standings, just fifteen days later.
Such a big turnaround that Minnesota opted to rest some players against the Magic and Pacers. Essentially accepting their fate to finish in sixth place, which has now officially been locked in. Houston, on the other hand, still has something to play for.
Assuming the Rockets can handle business against a depleted team, it’ll be on the Lakers to keep things tied in the standings again. They managed to do the same thing last night, as mentioned on Roundtable, but LA’s matchup tonight isn’t expected to be as easy.
While Curry is virtually the last man standing for the Warriors, Phoenix has a much more well-rounded roster available. Houston fans just saw that on Tuesday and hope for the Suns to give the Lakers a loss and give the Rockets some breathing room.
We’ll either head into the weekend and the final game of the season with the Rockets tied (and therefore trailing) the Lakers —— or we can see them have a full game advantage over the the depleted LA team.