Green scores 42 career highs, Rockets finish 13-game sled

HOUSTON – Jalen Green posted a career-high 42 points and the Houston Rockets held on to a 119-114 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night for a 13-game losing streak.

Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, had 21 points at halftime and continued his strong play in the second half to lead the Rockets to their first win since Dec. 26 in Chicago. They ended their longest slip of the season and also a 10-game losing streak at home, winning at home against Phoenix for the first time since December 13.

Green rebounded after shooting just 3 of 13 with 10 points in a loss to the Timberwolves on Saturday night.

Coach Stephen Silas could see the drive in green doing better from the start on Monday night.

“He was ready for tonight,” Silas said. “It was time for us to pull ourselves together and play a focused game for 48 minutes and he was the leader tonight.”

Green said he was “a little bit on my mind” after his poor game on Saturday but determined to turn things around. He was thrilled that his big game helped Houston end his tumble.

“It feels good,” he said. “My boys relied on me, the coaches relied on me. We needed that. We were desperate for it. We came out and executed.”

Anthony Edwards had 31 points and D’Angelo Russell tied for a season-high 30 for the Timberwolves, who had won back-to-back.

“You are what you keep doing,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch. “We’ve had repeated problems with these kinds of games, so concentration… must be part of the problem, but we just didn’t have enough people playing well either.”

Rookie Tari Eason spoke about the mindset of the Houstonians who came into play on Monday.

“I just told the team before the game, just be desperate,” Eason said. “And I think that’s what we did tonight. Everyone played desperately. Everyone played their tails.”

The Rockets clung to a one-point lead before Green scored the next five points, topped by a 3-pointer to make it 105-99 with two minutes to go.

Edwards made the second of two free throws before Green struck again and knocked down a long 2-pointer to put Houston 107-100 ahead with 90 seconds left.

Kenyon Martin Jr. then stole the ball from D’Angelo Russell and finished with a dunk at the other end to extend the lead to nine in under a minute.

Edwards made a 3 for Minnesota after that, but Green hit a 3-pointer for Houston seconds later to make it 112-103 with 41 seconds to go. Minnesota closed within four with 12 seconds left, but Green responded with a free throw.

Green waved a 3-pointer when time was up in the third quarter to leave Houston a 90-81 lead. The Timberwolves used an 8-0 five-point run from Russell to cut the lead to 92-89 with about nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Houston took the lead on a 7-0 run with a 3 from Garrison Mathews to take an 81-74 lead in the third quarter with less than four minutes to go.

Austin Rivers hit a 3 for Minnesota a second later, but the Rockets scored the next six points to make it 87-77 with about two minutes left in the quarter.

TIP INS

Timberwolves: Taurean Prince sat out with a sprained left ankle. … Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 16 rebounds on his return after missing three games with a right groin pain.

Rockets: Rookie Jabari Smith Jr. missed a second straight game with a sprained right ankle. … Kevin Porter Jr. missed a sixth straight game with an injured left foot. … Alperen Sengun had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

THE CELLAR

Houston, which has ended the last two seasons with the worst record in the NBA, is again the worst team in the league this season with 11-36. Silas hopes a game like this is proof his team is improving despite their record.

“We’re definitely still working on it,” he said. “We still made mistakes … but we played through them tonight and that’s the most important thing.”

NEXT

Timberwolves: Visit New Orleans on Wednesday night.

Rockets: host Washington Wednesday night.

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