Houston (42-13) at Minnesota (35-24)
When: Tuesday, February 13th 2018
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Time: 8:05 ET | TV: AT&T Sportsnet Southwest, FS North
Opening Odds: Houston -2/222.5
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A pair of first-place teams will battle for playoff positioning when the Houston Rockets visit the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center on Tuesday night. Houston has a shot at going into the All-Star Break as the top seed in the Western Conference, as they are only a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets current eight-game winning streak will be tested against a Minnesota team that has not lost on its home floor since December 16th. The Timberwolves, who host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in their final game before the break, pushed their home winning streak to 13 in a row on Sunday but weren’t at their best in a 111-106 victory over the West-worst Sacramento Kings. Houston has won four in a row on the road and is making a brief stop in Minnesota after a 104-97 home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Houston earned a 116-98 win at home over Minnesota on January 18th despite star James Harden being held to 10 points.
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Houston pulled out the victory on Sunday despite struggling with what they do best – going 13-of-45 from 3-point range. Harden went 4-of-13 from beyond the arc in the win but finished with a team-high 27 points. Point guard Chris Paul was 2-of-7 from long range, but managed to almost pull off a triple-double with 25 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists on 9-of-15 shooting. Paul has scored 22 or more points in four of the last five games. Center Clint Capela pulled down a moderate 11 rebounds against Dallas after recording 25 in a 130-104 rout of Denver two nights earlier. The Rockets will finish the first half with a home date against Sacramento tomorrow night.
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All-Star guard Jimmy Butler scored 11 of his 18 points in the decisive fourth quarter in Sunday’s win over the Kings and is averaging 29.8 points on 53.3% shooting over the last five games. Center Karl-Anthony Towns had another big game with 29 points and eight rebounds on Sunday, just the 10th time this season that he failed to record a double-double. All five starters and Jamal Crawford off the bench scored in double-figures Sunday and point guard Jeff Teague (10 assists) recorded his second double-digit assist game in the last three.
This Houston team is tough to beat right now, but the Timberwolves are on an incredible run at home right now. Minnesota is not very deep, but the young starting five is one of the best units in the league.
Pick: Timberwolves +3
- Rockets are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Northwest.
- Rockets are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS loss.
- Rockets are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games.
- Timberwolves are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Timberwolves are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 home games.
- Timberwolves are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 vs. NBA Southwest.
- Timberwolves are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games.
- Over is 5-0 in Rockets last 5 Tuesday games.
- Under is 5-0-1 in Rockets last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Under is 9-1 in Rockets last 10 vs. Western Conference.
- Under is 9-2 in Rockets last 11 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Under is 10-3-1 in Rockets last 14 road games.
- Under is 11-4 in Rockets last 15 overall.
- Under is 8-3 in Rockets last 11 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Over is 5-2 in Rockets last 7 vs. NBA Northwest.
- Under is 10-4 in Rockets last 14 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 34-15-2 in Rockets last 51 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Under is 9-4 in Rockets last 13 games following a straight up win.
- Over is 4-0 in Timberwolves last 4 overall.
- Over is 4-0 in Timberwolves last 4 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Over is 5-0 in Timberwolves last 5 vs. Western Conference.
- Over is 4-0 in Timberwolves last 4 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Over is 9-2 in Timberwolves last 11 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Over is 4-1 in Timberwolves last 5 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 8-2 in Timberwolves last 10 vs. NBA Southwest.
- Over is 5-2 in Timberwolves last 7 home games.
- Under is 5-2 in Timberwolves last 7 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
- Over is 35-16-1 in Timberwolves last 52 games following a ATS loss.
- Over is 45-22-1 in Timberwolves last 68 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Over is 12-2 in the last 14 meetings.
- Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Minnesota.
- Rockets are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
- Underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
