Amen Thompson scored a career-high 41 points on elite efficiency, but it wasn’t enough to win in Houston’s 136-132 loss (box score) to Minnesota. For the Rockets, Friday’s loss snapped an eight-game winning streak.
“Couldn’t guard anybody one-on-one,” head coach Ime Udoka said postgame. “It just felt like it was open gym, both teams going back and forth, scoring too easy. A layup line. We don’t want to be in a shootout every night.”
The Timberwolves connected on 51-of-89 shots (57.3%) for the game, including a blistering 15-of-30 showing from 3-point range (50.0%).
As for Thompson, his 41 points came on 17-of-22 shooting (77.3%) and a perfect 7-of-7 mark from the free-throw line. The talented 23-year-old, who will be eligible for a contract extension in the NBA’s upcoming 2026 offseason, also added 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals.
“I feel great and I feel really confident,” Thompson said. “Just trying to play my game… and I’m looking forward to the playoffs.”
Other key individual statistics included:
The Timberwolves (48-33) and Rockets (51-30) are locked as the No. 6 and No. 5 seeds, respectively, in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs. Each team has one regular-season game left to play on Sunday.
The Rockets will face the No. 4 seed in the first round, either the Lakers (52-29) or Nuggets (53-28). Los Angeles is more likely, with the Denver scenario only occurring if both the Nuggets lose (at San Antonio) and the Lakers win (home versus Utah). In that scenario, the Lakers would become the No. 3 seed.
The No. 4 seed will have home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series versus Houston, hosting Game 1, Game 2, Game 5, and Game 7 (the latter two if necessary).
With the Rockets locked as the No. 5 seed, Udoka indicated that Houston will likely rest some of its regulars in Sunday’s inconsequential regular-season finale versus Memphis. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. Central.
Game 1 of the ensuing first-round series will take place the next weekend, on either Saturday, April 18 or Sunday, April 19. An initial schedule from the NBA is expected to be released shortly after Sunday’s games go final.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: As playoffs loom, Amen Thompson scores career-high 41 points for Rockets
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
