The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Friday night's contest against the Houston Rockets as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Starting 2026 off 6-1, the Timberwolves were able to steal a massive win on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.

Unfortunately, the absence of Edwards extended into Friday's contest, with Gobert returning after his one-game suspension. Regardless, the Timberwolves headed into the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Rockets, but it wasn't enough to get the job done due to several factors holding them back on Friday night.

Despite a 39-point game from Julius Randle, the Timberwolves' struggles at the free-throw line led to their 110-105 loss to the Rockets.

Both teams actually shot nearly identically from the free-throw line, with the Timberwolves going 20-of-35 and the Rockets going 20-of-34. Looking at the box score specifically, it was really Gobert who held Minnesota back, going 2-of-10 from the line.

After the game, head coach Chris Finch addressed these problems, noting it's been going on all season.

"We're like 28th in free-throw shooting. We get there at like the 7th best in the league, and we shoot the third-worst. We have good shooters from the line, missing them too. So definitely," Finch said.

Randle led the team in attempts, shooting 9-for-11, which is actually higher than his season average. Outside of Gobert, Mike Conley went 1-for-2, and Bones Hyland missed his two attempts from the line. If Gobert was even able to shoot just 50%, the outcome of this contest could've been drastically different.

While a rough loss in a winnable scenario for the Timberwolves is tough to deal with, they have the excuse of being without Edwards to lean on. However, they won't have much time to dwell on anything, as they make the short trip over to San Antonio to face the Spurs in the second half of their back-to-back on Saturday.

They'll then round out their road trip in Utah before returning to Minnesota for three home games, where they'll get a day of rest in between each.

Regardless, this team has looked a lot better since the start of the new calendar year, but it still seems like they can make some improvements. Former eighth overall pick Rob Dillingham hasn't been able to crack this rotation, and the Timberwolves could seek to add some depth at the forward position with him as a trade piece.

The Timberwolves end the night as the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and are just 1.5 games out of the second seed from the Spurs, as they can close the gap on Saturday night.