On February 5, Beijing time, the Rockets lost to the Timberwolves 90-111 on the road, and suffered a big defeat in two encounters with the Timberwolves this season.
In this game, the Rockets only scored 90 points, which is the second-fewest points scored by the Rockets this season, second only to the 86 points in the opening game against the Magic, which is the worst game played by the Rockets since the opening game.
In this game, the Rockets didn't play well, from an all-round point of view, the Rockets didn't play well, and the Rockets didn't play well from the beginning, although the Rockets only scored 4 points in the first half, but the gap between the two teams was very obvious.
In the opening stage, the Timberwolves focused on playing the Rockets inside, and the way the Timberwolves played the Rockets inside was to bully the Rockets center's footwork speed and poor frame protection, and by holding the ball to break through to the board behind the inside, the Timberwolves focused on the Rockets' interior defense.
The Rockets began to shrink the inside, the Timberwolves turned to play the No. 15 position to block and dismantle, Conley and Gobert played blocking and dismantling, bullying Shen Jing's poor footwork and poor defensive position, Shen Jing faced a point guard like Conley who was a high-pitcher, and his defensive weaknesses were fully revealed.
Shen Jing was spit by the Timberwolves on the defensive end, and the Rockets' other defensive points were not good, and Jabari Smith Jr.'s single defense against Downs was not good, and he was fouled twice by Towns in the opening stage, resulting in no playing time for the remaining 10 minutes of the first quarter.
Edwards played very average in the first half, broke out in the second half, and broke out Dillon Brooks, and the strongest point of the Rockets' defense was not as good as the strongest point on the offensive end of the Timberwolves, resulting in the Rockets being unable to hold down Edwards in the second half, and Edwards single-handedly broke the Rockets' defense.
When Shen Jing was on the court, he changed to the outside line many times by changing defenses, because the Timberwolves were too big, the Rockets suffered a lot in the backcourt rebounding protection, and were repeatedly blown up by the Timberwolves in the frontcourt rebounds, and many times by the Timberwolves through the frontcourt rebounds converted to secondary offense.
When the Timberwolves were very big, the Rockets were weak on the offensive end, and Udoka once put on a three-guard lineup of VanVleet, Aaron Holiday and Jalen Green (Amen Thompson), of which two players in the three-guard lineup were no more than 1.9 meters tall.
The Rockets can't prevent the inside combination of Towns + Gobert, whether it is Shen Jing + Jabari Smith Jr. + Jeff Green + Tate four people rotate and match at will, they suffered a big loss in basic body shape and were blown up by the opponent.
In this game, the Rockets basically fell behind on the defensive end, and they couldn't crack the Timberwolves' defense at all on the offensive end, knowing that the Timberwolves' defensive efficiency ranked No. 1 in the league.
Shen Jing, the strongest point of the Rockets' offensive end, faced with the defensive gate Gobert, played not easily and wishfully, in the configuration of the Timberwolves' inner twin towers, Shen Jing played inefficiently, many mid-range jumpers could not score, many close-frame shots, and Gobert's frame protection did not score, but the Timberwolves suddenly wrapped Shen Jing, so that Shen Jing made several mistakes.
Jalen Green's ball-holding breakthrough and three-point jumper efficiency are not good, Gobert, who faced the league's top defense in the ball-holding breakthrough, couldn't break through Gobert's defense, and played very uncomfortable with the ball, and was repeatedly hatted by the Timberwolves, Edwards defended Jalen Green, and even sometimes wrapped Jalen Green, so that Jalen Green couldn't find an offensive rhythm.
Whitmore broke through with the ball, and was flawlessly returned by the Timberwolves' terrifying interior defense many times, and the projection status of the outside line was also average, but Amen Thompson frequently hit the Timberwolves' interior line, which could cause damage, but Amen Thompson's free throw shooting rate was not good.
Dillon Brooks wanted to single Conley in the low post on the inside, but the Timberwolves' help defense and interior defense were too strong, Dillon did not succeed, Jabari Smith Jr. except for the first three-point shot of the Rockets, did not score in the whole game, and he couldn't beat the Timberwolves guard with his back, and because the state was too poor, he didn't get much playing time at all.
In order to make the Timberwolves' defensive formation not complete, the Rockets tried to play fast, but the success rate of playing fast was not good, the Timberwolves' defensive return rate was too good, and the Rockets were weak in points.
This game just reflects the gap in the strength of the two teams, as well as the biggest shortcoming of the Rockets, the Rockets are afraid of excellent interior defense, as well as the top interior defense team, when the Rockets can't open the three-point situation, the Rockets rely too much on attacking the frame, and the Rockets play the league's twin towers The effect is not too good, such as the combination of the Bucks' alphabet brother and Lopez, the configuration of the Rockets still has great limitations.