Since James Harden’s departure from Houston, the two sides have been on very different trajectories. Harden is leading a super-team in Brooklyn that has its eyes set on a championship, while the Rockets have suffered through one of their worst stretches in franchise history.
Their 20-game losing streak mercifully came to an end earlier this week with a win over the Raptors, which they immediately followed up with a blowout loss to the Hornets. But on Friday night, it looked like their fortunes were once again taking a turn for the better as they held a massive lead over the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter.
What happened next will have Rockets fans scratching their heads for some time. With Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way (29 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists), Minnesota held Houston scoreless for the final 7:31 of the game as they went on a 22-0 run to steal a 107-101 victory.
Timberwolves went on a 22-0 run for the comeback win over the Rockets
pic.twitter.com/fjyOEPQTmB
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 27, 2021
The Rockets missed 13 consecutive shots, as they simply could not find a way to get a desperately needed bucket to the stop the bleeding. Towns, meanwhile, was showing off the full repertoire, with a few of those eight assists coming off of some beautiful dimes.
the behind-the-head assists are becoming commonplace pic.twitter.com/05NaBCJaaa
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 27, 2021
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— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 25, 2021
The Wolves also got 14 points from Jaden McDaniels, who was perfect from the field, and 19 points and nine boards from Juancho Hernangomez. Christian Wood led the way for the Rockets with 24 points and nine rebounds, but was 0-of-5 on his shot attempts in the fourth quarter. John Wall was likewise 0-of-6 in the final period and a brutal 6-of-25 overall to finish with 14 points.