NBA Betting Picks February 13 – Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves
James Harden extended his streak of games with 30 or more points to 30 by dropping 31 on the Mavericks Monday night. More importantly, the Houston Rockets got a victory one game after blowing a huge lead in a home loss to the Thunder.
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And we also saw the Rockets play some defense, something that hasn’t happened on a consistent basis this season. Harden has failed to score at least 30 points in a game just a handful of times. One of those came earlier in the season when he ended a point shy of that mark in a road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves
Date and Time: Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 8 p.m. ET
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Opening NBA Odds: Check Back Later
Rockets at Timberwolves TV Coverage: ESPN
Odds Analysis
With added depth and a few players returning from injuries, the Rockets are poised to make a move. Things would have looked much better if not for blowing a 26-point bulge against OKC last weekend. Those things happen, especially when going against super stars like Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Houston snapped back to take down Dallas, 120-104, on Monday, giving the Rockets four wins in their last five outings.
The Rockets owned the best road record in the NBA last season on their way to the best overall mark. They’re stuck in the middle of the Western Conference playoff pack this year mainly due to their inability to win away from Houston. They are just 13-14 on the road this season, already losing four more games than they did all of last season. One of those defeats was in Minnesota back in December.
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The Wolves need to figure out what they want to do. They are just four games out of the eighth seed in the West and are getting some of their injured players back. Is it worth the effort to make the playoffs only to be dropped in the first round by Golden State? Or should they play the lottery and hit the reset button on a season that has already had plenty of turmoil? They aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet after knocking off the Clippers on Monday to end a four-game slide and a stretch where they lost six of seven.
Rockets
Clint Capela is out until after the All-Star break, Chris Paul has missed a number of games, and so has Eric Gordon. What the Rockets don’t need is for Harden to take seat with an injury. He does have an ailing shoulder, but he isn’t going to sit. Harden hurt himself in a collision with OKC’s Steven Adams on Saturday, but he stayed in the game to score 42 points. With the break upcoming, it would have been a good time to give Harden a rest. However, being the competitor that he is, The Beard took the floor Monday against the Mavs.
Bothered by the injury, Harden got off to a slow start and his streak appeared in jeopardy after he tallied only 11 first half points. But he came through in crunch time scoring 20 in the second half, including a dagger three with less than a minute to go that put the game out of reach while extending his streak of 30-point games. To say 31 points is an off-night is ridiculous, but that’s what Harden has been during his run. He got some help from his mates with four others reaching double-figures.
Timberwolves
Already possessing one of the best bigs in the game, the Wolves got Karl-Anthony Towns some backcourt help. And the result was a victory that ended a four-game slide. Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose have each missed a significant amount of time recently, but they were together on Monday night. Struggling without a point guard, the Wolves had two of them available and got production from both. Rose scored 22 points while Teague added 19 and 10 assists.
Towns put up his usual numbers with 24 and 10 boards and a shift to the starting lineup sparked the club. Dario Saric took over for Taj Gibson, who willing gave up his starting gig. Saric scored 19 points while Gibson added 14 off the bench. In all seven players reached double figures. The Wolves aren’t out of the woods yet on the injury front. Andrew Wiggins didn’t play due to an illness while Tyus Jones and Robert Covington are out indefinitely.
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The home and road splits for the Wolves are alarming. They absolutely suck on the road but they’ve been a pretty good home team, and getting Teague and Rose back should help them be more efficient on offense. Harden is going to play despite his ailing shoulder and he will score points. Keeping his streak alive might be in danger, though. He failed to reach 30 the last time in Minny and the Rockets scored nine points in the fourth quarter of a loss. That won’t happen on Wednesday, but the Wolves will use their edge in the paint with KAT to claim another victory.
NBA Score Prediction: Timberwolves 112, Rockets 109
