Houston Rockets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game preview

The Rockets start a 5-game homestand against the Western Conference finalists

After a 3-0 road trip and 4-0 stretch against lottery teams, the Houston Rockets return to the friendly confines of the Toyota Center for a 5-game homestand.

The games are:

• Tonight vs. Minnesota, a back-to-back for the Rockets and not for the Wolves
• December 29 vs. Miami, who only play in close games
• January 1 vs. Dallas, who will probably be without Luka Doncic but are 6-2 without him this season
• January 3 vs. Boston, the defending NBA champions
• January 5 vs. LA Lakers, who have LeBron James.

We talked about it a bit in the Playback room, but today’s poll question is what record you would be happy with during these five games. Not what you think will happen, or what you hope will happen. What you would be pleased to see.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off a big Christmas Day win in Dallas over a team that blew them out of the Western Conference Finals. Doncic got hurt during that game but some wins just mean more and for a Minnesota team that has struggled to get going this season, that win could springboard them back into the upper echelon of Western Conference. Houston won the first meeting between these teams, but tonight promises to be a different task.

We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!

Tip-off

7pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network and Playback

Injury Report

Rockets

Tari Eason: GTD

Dillon Brooks: GTD

Timberwolves

Daishen Nix: OUT

Luka Garza: OUT

Joe Ingles: OUT

The Line (as of this post)

Min -1.5

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Sunday night in Houston against the Miami Heat