Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves Game 4 Prediction
The Timberwolves have regained the confidence that perhaps they can get themselves out of being swept in winning Game 3. But, can Minnesota slow down what everyone seems to think inevitable? Read the Rockets vs Timberwolves Game 4 prediction.
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Rockets vs Timberwolves Game 4
- When: April 23, 2018, 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Target Center
- Spread: Rockets -6
- Over/Under: 217
- More NBA Lines
Playoff Series Schedule
Game 1 in Houston: Rockets 104, Timberwolves 101
Game 2 in Houston: Rockets 102, Timberwolves 82
Game 3 in Minneapolis: Timberwolves 121, Rockets 105
Game 4 in Minneapolis: Monday, April 23, 8 p.m. ET, TNT
Game 5 in Houston: Wednesday, April 25, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Game 6 in Minneapolis: Friday, April 27, TBA (if necessary)
Game 7 in Houston: Sunday, April 29, TBA (if necessary)
Betting on the Rockets
Not to knock on the Timberwolves or to take away from an obviously earned win. But, the Rockets remain the better team in this series.
So, as long as the Rockets play as they have all year it’s likely they win tonight.
Minnesota has struggled on defense this year and it’s an opening for the Rockets to blow open and get the job done. The trio of Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker, and James Harden will not the opportunity slip by and it’s likely they’ll bring out the big guns.
Harden though needs to step up his game, even if he did score 44 points in Game 1. The fact is he’s gone 11 for 39 overall and 4 for 18 from downtown in the last two games and that isn’t going to fly if he’s to lead the Rockets to an NBA championship.
Not only has that, but the rest of the team has to pick up the slack as well. Chris Paul and Harden scored 46 points between the two, but the other starting players only scored 17 points between them. That’s also not cutting it.
The tide could turn very quickly on the Rockets so they have to win Game 4 to secure things when the series heads back to Houston for Game 5.
The Timberwolves have their best player, Jimmy Butler, back from injury which means they’ll be pumped to come out tonight and get a win.
But, Houston needs to clamp down defensively. The Rockets gave up 121 points to a team that was averaging 92 through the first two games and, again, it’s not good enough, not at this point.
Houston cannot let up on offense as well; you can argue all you want that the Rockets haven’t been clicking on offense for some month now and that their shooting has been way off.
Clint Capela missed some easy shots in Game 3. Chris Paul has struggled in both games. And James Harden isn’t aggressive enough, and when he is he’s been missing layups.
There’s no room for excuses and they have to win tonight. That’s all that matters.
Betting on the Timberwolves
The Timberwolves were on the ropes about to be knocked out. At least, that’s how it seemed before they rallied back to win Game 3.
I guess there’s something about being cornered that seems to bring out the best in some teams. It did so for the Timberwolves.
Minnesota went on to break all sorts of records in Game 3. Among others, they scored 35 points in the third quarter and an additional 34 points in the fourth while hitting 15 three-pointers for a total of 121 points.
Jimmy Butler was back on the court and scrambled to put up 28 points on 10 of 19 shooting while grabbing seven boards and five assists. He seemed to have recuperated from his ankle injury.
Jeff Teague added 23 points including six of a 9-0 run in the fourth that sealed the deal for the Timberwolves.
It would be foolish to believe, however, that the Timberwolves will get away with another win with less of a performance than that of Game 3.
The Timberwolves have to clamp down on James Harden and hope to keep him under wraps. That’s a task for Jimmy Butler, so we’ll see how that plays out. Minnesota also has to hope that the Rockets’ shooters go cold.
Not only that, they’ll also have to knock down some threes for themselves. This means Karl-Anthony Towns needs to step up big time tonight; even so, the Timberwolves are in for a tough game.
Game Prediction: If everything goes well, the Rockets will win the first round. But, the Timberwolves are going to go down fighting. Houston will win tonight, but the Timberwolves will cover. I’m taking Timberwolves +6.