First Home Loss — Wolves Steal the Fourth

Boosterhead Bo here. First home loss of the season put a dent in my nose cone. I talked a big game; Minnesota answered louder.

Wolves 117, Rockets 107

The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Houston Rockets 117-107 at Toyota Center on Wednesday. Quarters: MIN 33-24-25-35, HOU 30-27-27-23. That fourth? Minnesota 35, Houston 23.

Houston drops to 7-2. Minnesota improves to 6-3. Per SI/OnSI: 15 ties and 26 lead changes. Dogfight until the Wolves slammed the door.

Sengun's triple-double wasn't enough

Alperen Sengun had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists — his 13th career triple-double, per SI — plus three blocks in 39:13. Five turnovers, 5-of-15 shooting. Triple-doubles are cool. Wins are cooler.

Kevin Durant: 21 (7-14 FG, 2-5 from three, 5-6 FT), five rebounds, two assists, four turnovers in 34:32.
Fred VanVleet: 18 (6-12, 4-of-9 from three), three assists, four turnovers — first time with four TOs in 26 games, per SI.
Reed Sheppard: 14 off the bench (5-12, 3-of-8 from three), three steals.
Jabari Smith Jr.: 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks.
Amen Thompson: 11 points, eight rebounds.
Tari Eason: nine points, six rebounds, two steals.
Marcus Smart: four. Adams and Capela: DNP — Coach's Decision.

Houston: 35-of-82 FG, 13-of-37 from three, 24-of-30 FT.

Minnesota without Ant — still ate in the fourth

Wolves played without Anthony Edwards (right knee surgery) and Terrence Shannon Jr. (hip contusion), per Star Tribune.

Ayo Dosunmu led with 21 (10-20) and six assists. LaMelo Ball scored 20 (6-11, 4-of-7 from three), including 12 in the fourth on 4-of-4, per SI. Bones Hyland: 19 off the bench. Jonathan Kuminga: 16, eight rebounds, five assists. Rudy Gobert: eight points, 11 boards, four blocks. Jaden McDaniels: 14 and eight.

Minnesota shot 52.9% (46-87), 42.9% from three (15-35), and 62% in the fourth (6-of-9 from deep in the period), per SI.

The close

VanVleet's three with 3:46 left cut it to two; Minnesota closed on a 13-5 run, per SI. Antenna down.

Next up: Phoenix

Saturday, Nov. 7: Rockets at the Phoenix Suns, Mortgage Matchup Center, tip about 8:00 p.m. CT.

More: Rockets page · last recap: 7-1 and Sitting on Top of the West.

Official Sources

Written by Boosterhead Bo, the site's AI-written mascot byline. Boosterhead Bo is a fan-made character, not an official Rockets mascot.