Game ID: 22500591
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Houston Rockets
Friday, January 16, 2026 at 9:30 PM ET
Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
HOU 29 24 28 29 110MIN 34 21 27 23 105
HOU vs MIN ScoutingHOU vs MIN Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
HOU availability going into 1/09 · 1 day's restOUT Sengun missed 2 since 1/05, out tonight
BACK Adams back 1/05 after 2, 31 min since (135% of 23)
HOU availability going into 1/11 · 1 day's restOUT Sengun missed 3 since 1/05, returns tonight: 35 min (105% of 34)
BACK Adams back 1/05 after 2, 31 min since (138% of 23)
HOU availability going into 1/13 · 1 day's restBACK Sengun back 1/11 after 3, 35 min since (105% of 34)
BACK Adams back 1/05 after 2, 29 min since (129% of 23)
HOU availability going into 1/15 · 1 day's restOUT Eason missed 2 since 1/11, out tonight
BACK Sengun back 1/11 after 3, 36 min since (106% of 34)
BACK Adams back 1/05 after 2, 27 min since (119% of 23)
HOU availability going into 1/16 · back-to-backOUT Eason missed 3 since 1/11, out tonight
OUT Finney-Smith missed 2 since 1/13, returns tonight: 16 min (99% of 16)
BACK Sengun back 1/11 after 3, 35 min since (103% of 34)
HOU availability going into 1/18 · 1 day's restOUT Eason missed 4 since 1/11, out tonight
BACK Sengun back 1/11 after 3, 34 min since (101% of 34)
BACK Finney-Smith back 1/16 after 2, 16 min since (99% of 16)
HOU availability going into 1/20 · 1 day's restOUT Eason missed 5 since 1/11, returns tonight: 20 min (75% of 26)
OUT Holiday missed 2 since 1/16, out tonight
BACK Sengun back 1/11 after 3, 34 min since (100% of 34)
BACK Finney-Smith back 1/16 after 2, 16 min since (98% of 16)
HOU availability going into 1/22 · 1 day's restOUT Holiday missed 3 since 1/16, out tonight
BACK Eason back 1/20 after 5, 20 min since (75% of 26)
BACK Finney-Smith back 1/16 after 2, 16 min since (96% of 16)
HOU availability going into 1/23 · back-to-backOUT Holiday missed 4 since 1/16, out tonight
BACK Eason back 1/20 after 5, 24 min since (91% of 26)
BACK Finney-Smith back 1/16 after 2, 15 min since (95% of 16)
MIN availability going into 1/08 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 6 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/10 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 7 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/11 · back-to-backOUT Shannon Jr. missed 8 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/13 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 9 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/16 · 2 days' restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 10 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/17 · back-to-backOUT Edwards missed 2 since 1/13, returns tonight: 40 min (116% of 35)
OUT Shannon Jr. missed 11 since 12/27, out tonight
NEW DiVincenzo 30 to 35 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 1/20 · 2 days' restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 12 since 12/27, out tonight
BACK Edwards back 1/17 after 2, 40 min since (116% of 35)
NEW DiVincenzo 30 to 36 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 1/22 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 13 since 12/27, out tonight
BACK Edwards back 1/17 after 2, 40 min since (114% of 35)
NEW DiVincenzo 30 to 35 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 1/25 · 2 days' restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 14 since 12/27, out tonight
BACK Edwards back 1/17 after 2, 38 min since (110% of 35)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Houston comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 103 a night and allowing 110, shooting 41 percent and 25 from three, 26 free throws a game; Durant at 27 and Thompson at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 11 a night. Without Eason (3 straight), Finney-Smith (2 straight). Second night of a back-to-back. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 126 a night and allowing 114, shooting 53 percent and 44 from three, 19 free throws a game; Edwards at 25 and Randle at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, Minnesota at 44 percent from three to Houston's 25 and the line, where Houston takes 26 free throws a game to Minnesota's 19. Call it Minnesota 116, Houston 112, Houston keeping it close.
1/09 @ POR 105-111 — HOU notes
HOU lost 105-111. HOU shot 42% (40 of 96) to POR's 42%, 10 of 44 from three. The glass went 56-43 for them. Durant led with 30 (11 of 20, 4 of 9 from three); Thompson added 24, Sheppard 20. Q3 was theirs, 34-22, but the other 3 periods went 89-71 against them. They led by as many as 13.
1/11 @ SAC 98-111 — HOU notes
HOU lost 98-111. HOU shot 43% (36 of 84) to SAC's 48%, 7 of 30 from three, and went to the line 29 times to SAC's 20 — 19 points from the stripe to their 15. Thompson led with 31 (11 of 17, 9 of 12 at the line); Durant added 23, Sengun 19. Q1 was theirs, 23-22, but the other 3 periods went 89-75 against them. Holiday's -19 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/13 vs CHI 119-113 — HOU notes
HOU won 119-113. HOU shot 51% (45 of 88) to CHI's 44%, 7 of 24 from three, and went to the line 29 times to CHI's 23 — 22 points from the stripe to their 19. The glass went 50-40 for them. Durant led with 28 (12 of 23, 1 of 5 from three); Thompson added 23, Sengun 23. The hinge was Q1, 29-24: from level to 5 ahead. HOU trailed 57-60 at the half and won the second half 62-53. Sengun was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
1/15 vs OKC 91-111 — HOU notes
HOU lost 91-111. HOU took 15 more shots (104 to 89), fed by 23 offensive rebounds, but shot 34% to OKC's 46%, 7 of 24 from three. The glass went 60-44 for them. Durant led with 19 (7 of 23, 0 of 5 from three); Smith Jr. added 17, Sengun 14. Q3 was theirs, 27-22, the deficit cut from 7 to 2, but the other 3 periods went 89-64 against them. Durant's -20 in 37 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/16 vs MIN 110-105 — HOU notes
HOU won 110-105. HOU shot 46% (39 of 84) to MIN's 46%, 12 of 28 from three. Durant led with 39 (11 of 18, 6 of 8 from three, 11 of 14 at the line); Sengun added 25, Thompson 14. The hinge was Q4, 29-23: HOU came in trailing by 1 and left it ahead by 5. HOU trailed 53-55 at the half and won the second half 57-50. Durant was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
1/18 vs NOP — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Houston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 110, shooting 43 percent and 29 from three, 27 free throws a game; Durant at 28 and Thompson at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. Without Eason (4 straight). One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 119, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 25 free throws a game; Murphy III at 29 and Williamson at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Jones (6 straight), Murray (14 straight), Alvarado (6 straight). One day's rest.
So: Houston wins, and the game turns on the arc, New Orleans at 39 percent from three to Houston's 29 and the defense, Houston allowing 110 a night to New Orleans's 119. Call it Houston 117, New Orleans 113, New Orleans keeping it close.
1/20 vs SAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Houston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 110, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 26 free throws a game; Durant at 25 and Sengun at 20 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Eason (5 straight). One day's rest. San Antonio comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 47 percent and 39 from three, 26 free throws a game; Wembanyama at 28 and Fox at 17 a game. That is 3 straight wins. Without Vassell (11 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Houston wins, and the game turns on the arc, San Antonio at 39 percent from three to Houston's 32 and the glass, where Houston has been plus-6 a night and San Antonio plus-2. Call it Houston 114, San Antonio 111, San Antonio keeping it close.
1/22 @ PHI — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Philadelphia comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 114, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 26 free throws a game; Embiid at 28 and Maxey at 24 a game. Without George (2 straight). One day's rest. Houston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 25 free throws a game; Durant at 24 and Sengun at 21 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Philadelphia wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Houston has been plus-6 a night and Philadelphia minus-3. Call it Philadelphia 114, Houston 113, Houston keeping it close.
1/23 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 98, shooting 45 percent and 34 from three, 26 free throws a game; Duren at 17 and Robinson at 17 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest. Houston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 45 percent and 39 from three, 24 free throws a game; Durant at 26 and Sengun at 19 a game. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the defense, Detroit allowing 98 a night to Houston's 112 and the arc, Houston at 39 percent from three to Detroit's 34. Call it Detroit 114, Houston 107.
1/08 vs CLE 131-122 — MIN notes
MIN won 131-122. MIN shot 57% (51 of 89) to CLE's 53%, 20 of 38 from three. MIN turned it over 17 times to CLE's 12, and CLE turned those into 9 steals. Randle led with 28 (10 of 21, 3 of 7 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); McDaniels added 26, Edwards 25. The hinge was Q3, 43-22: MIN came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 17, and the lead reached 20. MIN trailed 63-67 at the half and won the second half 68-55. Randle was the night's best plus/minus at +31.
1/10 @ CLE 134-146 — MIN notes
MIN lost 134-146. MIN shot 57% (51 of 89) to CLE's 60%, 16 of 32 from three. MIN turned it over 15 times to CLE's 9, and CLE turned those into 10 steals. Edwards led with 25 (10 of 24, 4 of 9 from three); Reid added 25, Randle 20. Q1 was theirs, 33-29, but the other 3 periods went 117-101 against them. They led by as many as 12. Randle's -20 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/11 vs SAS 104-103 — MIN notes
MIN won 104-103. MIN shot 43% (39 of 90) to SAS's 39%, 12 of 39 from three. MIN turned it over 9 times to SAS's 14. Edwards led with 23 (10 of 21, 1 of 5 from three); DiVincenzo added 19, Reid 17. The hinge was Q4, 33-18: MIN came in trailing by 14 and left it ahead by 1. MIN trailed 42-55 at the half and won the second half 62-48. Reid was the night's best plus/minus at +23.
1/13 @ MIL 139-106 — MIN notes
MIN won 139-106. MIN shot 60% (55 of 92) to MIL's 48%, 22 of 42 from three, and got to the line 12 times to MIL's 19. The glass went 44-32 for them. Randle led with 29 (12 of 18, 4 of 7 from three); Hyland added 23, Reid 19. The hinge was Q1, 38-20: from level to 18 ahead, and the lead reached 41. Hyland was the night's best plus/minus at +41.
1/16 @ HOU 105-110 — MIN notes
MIN lost 105-110. MIN shot 46% (37 of 80) to HOU's 46%, 11 of 30 from three. Randle led with 39 (14 of 25, 2 of 5 from three, 9 of 11 at the line); Reid added 25, McDaniels 15. Q1 was theirs, 34-29, but the other 3 periods went 81-71 against them. They led by as many as 12. Randle's -12 in 40 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/17 @ SAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
San Antonio comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 102, shooting 43 percent and 31 from three, 25 free throws a game; Wembanyama at 21 and Fox at 16 a game. Without Vassell (9 straight). One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 123 a night and allowing 117, shooting 53 percent and 45 from three, 22 free throws a game; Randle at 26 and Edwards at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Edwards (2 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: San Antonio wins, and the game turns on the arc, Minnesota at 45 percent from three to San Antonio's 31 and the defense, San Antonio allowing 102 a night to Minnesota's 117. Call it San Antonio 115, Minnesota 112, Minnesota keeping it close.
1/20 @ UTA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Utah comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 129, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 25 free throws a game; George at 27 and Sensabaugh at 26 a game. That is 4 straight losses. Without Markkanen (4 straight), Kessler (38 straight), Harkless (29 straight). Second night of a back-to-back. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 118, shooting 51 percent and 42 from three, 24 free throws a game; Edwards at 34 and Randle at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, Minnesota at 42 percent from three to Utah's 34 and the defense, Minnesota allowing 118 a night to Utah's 129. Call it Minnesota 124, Utah 118.
1/22 vs CHI — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 114, shooting 48 percent and 38 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 39 and Randle at 24 a game. That is 3 straight losses. One day's rest. Chicago comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 41 from three, 17 free throws a game; Vučević at 21 and White at 18 a game. Without Giddey (11 straight), Williams (2 straight), Collins (12 straight). One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the line, where Minnesota takes 25 free throws a game to Chicago's 17. Call it Minnesota 119, Chicago 116, Chicago keeping it close.
1/25 vs GSW — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 118, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 23 free throws a game; Edwards at 38 and Randle at 27 a game. That is 4 straight losses. 2 days' rest. Golden State comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 128 a night and allowing 122, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 17 free throws a game; Ste. Curry at 23 and Podziemski at 16 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-3 a night and Golden State minus-7 and the line, where Minnesota takes 23 free throws a game to Golden State's 17. Call it Minnesota 120, Golden State 118, Golden State keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CC C. Capela
DF D. Finney-Smith
JD J. Davison
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
MINBH B. Hyland
DD D. DiVincenzo
JB J. Beringer
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JR J. Randle
MC M. Conley
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
HOU/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Kevin Durant's season-high 39 points and clutch free throws lift Rockets over Timberwolves
HOUSTON -- — Kevin Durant scored 39 points and made a season-best six 3-pointers to lead the Houston Rockets to a 110-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night.
Alperen Sengun added 25 points with 14 rebounds to help the Rockets bounce back after a blowout loss to Oklahoma City Thursday night.
A 6-2 run by the Timberwolves, with four points from Julius Randle , got them within 105-102 with about 90 seconds to go. Sengun fouled out soon after that and Jaden McDaniels made one of two free throws to get Minnesota within two points.
Durant made two free throws with under a minute left before Randle turned the ball over and Durant was fouled again. He made two more free throws with 22.1 seconds left to seal the victory.
Durant’s big shooting night came after he was 0 for 5 on 3-pointers against the Thunder.
Randle had season-high 39 points for the Timberwolves on a night when Anthony Edwards missed a second straight game with a foot issue.
The Timberwolves trailed by six points after a basket by Bones Hyland before Rudy Gobert missed a chance to close the gap by missing three of his next four free throws. Houston remained up by 5 later in the fourth, but a dunk by Sengun extended the lead to 103-96 with 3½ minutes left.
Neither team shot well from the free throw line, with Houston making just 20 of 34 and Minnesota going 20 for 35. Gobert had the worst night, going 2 for 10 on free throws.
Naz Reid added 25 points with 10 rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves, who scored at least 100 points in their 100th straight game, which is the third-longest such streak in NBA history.
Up next Timberwolves: Visit San Antonio on Saturday night.