Rockets implode late, drop first game against Timberwolves

Photo courtesy of Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Everything was good, until it wasn't.

Despite leading for a vast majority of their games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, the Houston Rockets squandered a win, dropping their first game of a back-to-back set against the T-Wolves by a score of 107-101.

Minnesota had no business winning this game. The T-Wolves as a whole shot just under 38% from the floor, and 26.3% from three. Karl Anthony-Towns, the team's star, made only nine of his 26 shots on the evening. The opposing team as a whole looked largely lethargic and flat-out bad for most of the night.

The Rockets, in comparison, looked like world-beaters, especially early on. Christian Wood had his shot going in early. John Wall was playing within the offense and facilitating. Ben McLemore, now in the starting lineup with the trade of Victor Oladipo and injury to Kevin Porter Jr., was close to unconscious from deep.

The second quarter saw Houston outscore Minny by 13. Then by six in the third. The Rockets led by 19 at one point, and everything was fine and dandy in Rocketland.

Then the fourth quarter happened.

It started innocently enough. The Timberwolves put a small run together, but a quick retaliation from Houston had them up by 14 with just over seven and a half minutes to go. A D.J. Augustin jumper would balloon that lead to 16.

Those would be the last points Houston would score for the rest of the game.

That's right -- for the remaining 7:30 of the contest, Houston could not manage to score a single point. Essentially no offense was run. John Wall, who had been playing so well up to that point, lost his mind in the fourth quarter, and missed six straight shots at one point. Combined with Christian Wood, who also failed to score a point in the period, the two main cogs of the Rockets offense went a combined 0-11 in the fourth.

It was an egregiously bad collapse. The Rockets, in total, went a putrid 3-22 in the fourth, with more than double the amount of turnovers as shots made (7). Houston missed their final 13 shots.

The Rockets were so bad, in fact, that it made history -- the Rockets became only the fourth team in the last 25 years to fail to make a bucket in the final 7:30 of a fourth quarter.

Minnesota, on the other hand, was all too happy to take advantage. The Timberwolves blitzed to a 22-0 run, getting whatever they wanted while the Rockets floundered about on the court. Minnesota dominated the offensive boards during the run, bringing their total on the evening to a staggering 29 second-chance points (for comparison, the league leaders in that stat, the New Orleans Pelicans, average 15.4). They would outscore Houston 31-10 overall in the fourth.

And when the dust settled and the buzzer rang, it was Minnesota who came out on top.

The loss is only the latest in a string of failures and embarrassments in what has become one of the most arduous seasons in the franchises' history since the turn of the century. Coach Silas didn't mince words when describing the loss postgame. "Stagnant. Disappointing."

Though, it should be noted that the Rockets are now only 1.5 games ahead of the Timberwolves in the league standings, and that dropping below them would give them ideal lottery odds in the upcoming draft. Take that however you will.

Houston will get a chance to redeem itself (or continue tanking) tonight against the same Timberwolves in the second half of the back-to-back. Kevin Porter Jr., who sat yesterday with injury, was optimistic in potentially playing today.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM CT.