Durant’s 39 leads Rockets past Timberwolves 110-105
Kevin Durant scored 39 points and made a season-best six 3-pointers to lead the Houston Rockets to a 110-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Alperen Şengün added 25 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Rockets bounce back after suffering a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday night, News.Az reports, citing AP.
A 6-2 run by the Timberwolves, including four points from Julius Randle, brought them within 105-102 with about 90 seconds remaining. Şengün fouled out shortly afterward, and Jaden McDaniels made one of two free throws to bring Minnesota within two points.
Durant made two free throws with under a minute left. Randle then turned the ball over, and Durant was fouled again. He sank two more free throws with 22.1 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Durant’s strong shooting performance came after he went 0 for 5 on 3-pointers against the Thunder the previous night.
Randle scored a season-high 39 points for the Timberwolves, while Anthony Edwards missed a second consecutive game due to a foot issue.
The Timberwolves trailed by six after a basket by Bones Hyland. Rudy Gobert then missed three of his next four free throws, missing a chance to cut the deficit. Houston maintained a five-point lead later in the fourth quarter, but a dunk by Şengün extended the advantage to 103-96 with 3½ minutes remaining.
Neither team shot well from the free-throw line, with Houston making only 20 of 34 and Minnesota going 20 for 35. Gobert struggled the most, finishing 2 for 10 from the line.
Naz Reid contributed 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves, who scored at least 100 points for the 100th consecutive game — the third-longest such streak in NBA history.
Up next
Timberwolves: Visit San Antonio on Saturday night.
Rockets: Host New Orleans on Sunday night.
Similar news
