Courtesy of a career-high 42 points on strong efficiency by Jalen Green, the NBA’s worst losing streak of the 2022-23 season is now over. With Monday’s 119-114 win (box score) over Minnesota, the Houston Rockets finally ended what had been a 13-game slide.
Green made 15-of-25 shots overall (60.0%) and 6-of-12 from 3-point range (50.0%), and he even had a key block in the closing two minutes as Houston (11-36) put the game away. Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves (24-25) with 31 points, but he had 6 turnovers to Green’s 1 — a dramatic turnaround from Saturday’s discrepancy between the same two players and teams in Minneapolis.
For Green, a talented guard prospect drafted second overall in the 2021 first round, it was his second 40+ point outing in three games after tying his prior career high with 41 versus Charlotte on Jan. 18.
Alperen Sengun added 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists for the Rockets on 8-of-12 shooting (66.7%), while rookie forward Tari Eason stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, and 2 blocks in 26 minutes during his second career start.
Kevin Porter Jr. (left foot soreness) and Jabari Smith Jr. (right ankle sprain) each had their multi-game absences continue.
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction. Next up for Houston is the midpoint of a three-game homestand on Wednesday versus Washington. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Central.
Stephen Silas: “The way we started the game, a lot of it was Tari. He was on the offensive glass. Somehow he just always gets the 50/50 balls and attacking the rim and getting the offensive rebound, the put-backs, so he did a good job.”
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 24, 2023
Silas said he’s still trying to limit Jae’Sean Tate to around 20 minutes in the aftermath of his injury. Tate played 22 tonight and was a big part of the win
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) January 24, 2023
Rockets coach Stephen Silas on the difference between Saturday’s game and tonight: “We still turned it over a bunch of times, we still didn’t make enough free throws, but it was the mental fortitude that we showed to win.”
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) January 24, 2023
In his past five games, Green has averaged 28.6…
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