On December 28th, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. In today's game, the young Houston Rockets played at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Before this game, the Rockets were ranked second in the West. The two teams had met once before, with the Rockets defeating the Timberwolves in that game. In today's match, the Rockets were without their two main players, Dillon and Ethan, while the Timberwolves hoped to complete their revenge on the Rockets' home court.
In the first quarter, the Rockets started strong with a 9-3 lead and quickly took the lead. The Timberwolves responded with 7 consecutive points to overtake the score. The two teams then engaged in a tightly contested battle with the lead changing hands. Edwards' buzzer-beating counterattack helped them end the first quarter with a 1-point lead over the Rockets. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves unleashed their outside shooting, with DiVincenzo and Edwards continuously hitting three-pointers, giving the Timberwolves a double-digit lead. The Rockets attempted to close the gap, but at halftime, they trailed the Timberwolves by 5 points.
After halftime, the Timberwolves' offense suddenly stalled, with Edwards scoring only 1 point in the third quarter. The Rockets' defense began to show results, as the Timberwolves failed to score more than 20 points in the quarter, allowing the Rockets to quickly take the lead. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets maintained a lead of over 10 points. After Xiao Smith hit two consecutive three-pointers, the Rockets had extended their lead to 15 points over the Timberwolves. However, the game took an unexpected turn as the Rockets missed several shots, and the Timberwolves launched a 10-0 scoring run. In a critical moment, Edwards sealed the deal with a three-pointer. VanVleet missed his three-pointer from beyond the arc, and the Timberwolves completed a near-buzzer beater against the Rockets.
In this game, the Rockets suffered a humiliating comeback loss. With 4 minutes and 19 seconds remaining, the Rockets led by 15 points at 108-93, with ESPN giving them a win probability of 99.6%. No one could have predicted that the Timberwolves would launch a 20-4 scoring spree to achieve an incredible comeback. In this game, Shen Jing performed exceptionally well, playing for 40 minutes and 51 seconds, making 16 out of 25 shots, and scoring a season-high 38 points, which unfortunately was not enough to save the team. In the final moments, as the Timberwolves frantically chased points, Shen Jing was the only one capable of inflicting damage, but his 2 out of 4 free throws became a foreshadowing of the outcome.
VanVleet became the biggest culprit in the Rockets' loss. In the last few minutes of the game, he not only failed to control the time but also forced multiple outside three-point attempts, especially the last three-pointer that directly cost the Rockets their chance. With a starting point guard earning $40 million performing like this, it's time for the Rockets to make some adjustments during this offseason!