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Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Preview

The Houston Rockets look to make it two straight when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Houston snapped a four-game losing streak with a win against Denver on Wednesday, while Minnesota comes into this one on a seven-game losing streak.

It was great to see Houston playing its brand of basketball in the win over Denver. When you get on a losing streak, and things stop going your way, it’s important to dig deep but stay true to your system. Houston did that as Russell Westbrook went off to lead it to the win and its long-awaited return to the win column.

It will be tough to get inside the top four to get home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs in the Western Conference if the Rockets don’t have an eight- to nine-game win streak at some point.

After a pretty hot start to the year, Minnesota came back to Earth in an astounding way. The Timberwolves have not impressed this year and recently sent Jeff Teague back to Atlanta.

Shabazz Napier is their starting point guard, while Karl-Anthony Towns is finally back in the lineup in the middle. He and Andrew Wiggins have both been great, but it is clear that the supporting cast is not nearly good enough. Minnesota has not made much progress from last season.

The spread for Friday’s game favors the Rockets by five points. The over/under is set at 234.

Looking For A Streak

After coming away with a win in their last game, the Rockets will be looking to claim victory again Friday night. They match up well with this team, as Westbrook is going to have a significant size advantage against Napier.

James Harden will have a tough matchup against Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver, but this is a day to get the step-back three going again. Clint Capela may be slowed by Towns, but the Rockets’ three-point shooters should be due for a big game on the road.

If they have too much of one thing on this team, it’s guys who can knock down the three in spurts. And Friday is going to be one in which they all go in.

Eric Gordon has started to get into his rhythm, something that could play a big part in Houston’s success moving forward. When he’s hot, he’s hot.

Hoping To Snap The Skid

The Timberwolves’ last loss, to Chicago, was not a pretty one and dropped them under to 14 games under .500. The year has not treated them and coach Ryan Saunders well.

It is great that Wiggins has consistently been able to score impressively, but the other guys on the team outside of the two stars cannot be relied upon for a quick basket. Something they need to do this summer is add players that can create their own shot and players who can knock down the three at a high rate.

It would also help if Jake Layman, who played well to start the year, could get healthy.

This is not a great matchup for the Timberwolves, and stopping Westbrook should be their main focus over slowing down Harden. He’s been hot and can get to the rim at will.

Rockets Make It Two Straight

The Rockets will get the win Friday behind a Westbrook triple-double. Take Houston -5.

Free Play: HOU -5

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