Riding a nine-game winning streak and playing as well as anyone in the league, the Houston Rockets, led by presumptive MVP favorite James Harden, came into Minnesota looking to move past the San Antonio Spurs with a win to take sole possession of the second seed in the West.
Unfortunately for them, the Minnesota Timberwolves came out to play. Defending as well as they have all season while getting a big game off the bench from Shabazz Muhammad and great effort on both ends of the court from Brandon Rush, who started in place of the injured Zach LaVine.