Fil-Am Jalen Green soars as Rockets edge Timberwolves, 119-114
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Tue, 24 Jan 2023
After a13-game slump, the Houston Rockets defeat the uninspired Timberwolves, 119-114, Monday night.
Houston’s rare victory not only ended their longest slide this season, but also snapped their 10-game losing streak at home, winning for the first time since December 13 against the Phoenix Suns.
Helping the Rockets rise from the abyss is Fil-Am star Jalen Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, who posted a career-high 42 points- 21 each before and after halftime- powering the Rockets who grew tired of losing.
Green redeemed himself after previously making just 3-of-13 shots with a mere 10 points in their loss to the Timberwolves last Saturday night. He is one of only two current NBA players, both shooting guards if not stars, of Filipino-American descent— Jordan Clarkson, point guard for the Utah Jazz being the other.
Both Green and Clarkson are following the footsteps of retired Raymond Townsend, the first NBA hoops star with Filipino ancestry, who briefly played for the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers, back in the early 1980’s.
Said Rockets head coach to NBA.com: “He was ready for tonight…It was time for us to buckle down and have a focused game for 48 minutes and he was the leader of that tonight.”
In the final two minutes of an entertaining game, Green scored five consecutive points, featuring a 3-pointer, nursing their edge from a point to 6 points to make it 105-99.
The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards sank one-of-two free throws then Green retaliated by making a long deuce to push Houston ahead, 107-100, with 90 seconds left on the clock.
With less than 60 seconds left, Kenyon Martin Jr. picked D’Angelo Russell and completed the possession with an emphatic dunk, increasing Houston’s lead to nine points, 109-100.
Thereafter, Edwards sank a trey for the ‘Wolves but Green hit back with another 3-pointer for Houston to make it 112-103 with 41 ticks left.
With 12 seconds to go, Minnesota came within 4 points before Fil-Am Green closed the show with a free throw.
Despite the win, Houston (11-36) now owns a dubious record of having the NBA's worst record in each of the last two seasons. Rockets head coach Silas is still optimistic that tonight’s win shows a glimmer of hope in improving upon last year’s poor performance record.
As a team, Houston made 44-of-88 baskets (50% FG), sank 11-of-30 treys (36.7% 3-PT), controlled both boards with more rebounds (47 to 41 total grabs), stole more (11 to 8), had more points off turnovers (23 to 19) despite turning the ball more often (19 to 18 points), and led by as much as 12 points and scored more in the paint (56 to 44).
Alperen Sengun posted 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists as did E. Gordon 14, T. Eason 11, K. Martin, Jr. 6 points. Off the bench, J. Tate scored 11, G. Matthews 10, and B. Fernando chipped in 4 points for the Rockets.
By contrast, the Timberwolves made 41-of-91 baskets, sank 16-of-42 treys (38.2% 3-PT), had more fast break points (17 to 9), led briefly by as much as 6 points, but was more careless by committing more fouls (22 to 15).
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points and D'Angelo Russell added 30 (tying a season high) for the Timberwolves, who have now won two straight games. Rudy Gobert posted 15 points and 16 rebounds, after missing three games due to a groin injury.
Upcoming:
Houston Rockets (11-36): Host Washington Wizards (20-26) on Wednesday night.
Minnesota Timberwolves (24-25): Visit New Orleans Pelicans (26-21) on Wednesday night.
Note of Appreciation:
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