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00:00:00Smith a man Thompson Shen Goon and Josh Akogi Mike Conley will get the start for
00:00:05the injured Anthony Edwards Angel will have more on Edwards situation and
00:00:10really go bear is back he missed Tuesday's win in Milwaukee due to a one
00:00:16game suspension for too many flagrant fouls Houston 23 and 15 they're currently
00:00:23in sixth place two games out of second but also two out of seven Minnesota 27
00:00:29and 14 currently fourth in the west one game in the lost column from second place
00:00:34think about Houston's last game three really competitive quarters with
00:00:38Oklahoma City and then Oklahoma City goes on the run to start the fourth and the
00:00:43fourth quarter woes which have really been impacted Houston's ability to win
00:00:48games came around again so if this is a possession ballgame how do they respond
00:00:55tonight Ed Molloy Brian Forte JD Rawls our officiating crew Shen Goon and Gold
00:01:02Bear at center court and we are underway in Houston this is just the 16th home game
00:01:10for Houston the fewest home games played in the NBA they're 12 and 3 at Toyota
00:01:16Center including that loss that DB just mentioned last night against the Thunder
00:01:21here's Durant guarded by McDaniels a terrific defender and we see it on display
00:01:25getting the swat there
00:01:29Dave Vincenzo launches and cans a three-pointer he's off to a great start
00:01:34this year so this is a Minnesota team that scuffled at the start of the season
00:01:38after back-to-back conference finals it looked like they had much juice or verb but
00:01:43then all of a sudden really played good basketball 17 and 6 in their last 23 Chris
00:01:49Finch the Minnesota head coach told us before the game said the guys were a
00:01:53little bored at the beginning of the year after back-to-back conference finals
00:01:55but we've matured over the course of the year
00:02:06Durant using the Shen Goon screen and he's doubled Shen Goon not a threat to shoot so
00:02:12he takes it in and missed the lamp affected by Gobert and now Dave Vincenzo and a lob to McDaniels and a 5-0
00:02:18start for the Wolves
00:02:20the two possessions you're playing off your defense you get out and one of the things
00:02:24Chris Finch has liked is the pace his group is playing with boy you score like that
00:02:29takes a lot of pressure off you in the half court
00:02:32no luck Shen Goon
00:02:33Dave Vincenzo rising to block Thompson Thompson gets it back and finishes though
00:02:38okay
00:02:39Dante you talking about maybe the best athlete aside from his brother in the NBA how about that initial defense by Dante
00:02:50Minnesota's eighth in the league in defensive rating sixth in offense McDaniels three spins out
00:02:55Houston number nine defensively they're actually fourth in offensive rating but it's been a miserable two weeks on that end of the floor
00:03:05and the knock away by Gobert McDaniels against Durant stripped by KD
00:03:13Durant an underrated defender with the take away and a Kogi missed the dunk
00:03:19I don't know if he expected a
00:03:22Gobert rejection but
00:03:24Missed an easy one and it's a turnover
00:03:31Minnesota doing some nice things defensively
00:03:39There's Julius Randle with his first shot attempt
00:03:42There's that fadeaway I talked about he gets below the free throw line folks. He's going either shoulder on that
00:03:48Randle 22 points per game three points per game better than last year his first in Minnesota turn over Houston Randle up the court and
00:03:57Challenged by Durant. That's two labs Kevin Durant's a safe
00:04:02Gen good spinning on go bear. He comes up short got it back and should go and able to finish
00:04:08An all-star last year for the first time numbers even better for Shen Goon this season just 23 years old
00:04:20Pocket pass to go bear bumped off the spot by Shen Goon
00:04:23three minutes gone by Minnesota leading by three and a foul called on McDaniels colliding with Shen Goon
00:04:37That's the first on either team well
00:04:39I was wondering about an illegal screen at the initial point of that they catch the second part of it
00:04:50Third game of a five-game homestand for Houston Minnesota game two of a four-game road trip will be in San Antonio tomorrow
00:04:59The Spurs are up on Minnesota by a game in the conference standings
00:05:03Shane Goon unable to connect from 15 feet
00:05:09Houston just two for nine from the floor
00:05:13Make Daniels trying to shake Durant again good defense
00:05:19Randle has played in every game this season said it's a goal of his to play 82 again this year
00:05:24He did back in 2018 and he talks to the rocket bench after the bank in from deep
00:05:33Anthony ever just having a good time. There is no way he called bank
00:05:42Thompson down low Shen Goon bump by go bear
00:05:47Shanku and able to power that one up and in this is a guy who is
00:05:51Very much the center of their offense still trying to catch his rhythm had five turnovers last game, but boy
00:05:57He will bury you deep in the post and use great touch
00:06:01Dave Vincenzo off the back rim
00:06:08Ben Thompson averaging five points per game more than he did last year
00:06:12It's year three for Thompson still working on his shot is go bear strips Durant
00:06:16Ahead there Randle, and he'll take it all the way and slam it down and it's 12 six Minnesota again
00:06:23Making plays with their defense and turning it into a paced offense
00:06:30Already forced three turnovers three blocks and three steals for Minnesota in the first four and a half minutes
00:06:38And a foul called on Randle
00:06:40Shibari Smith on the rip through it'll be a side out of bounds second foul in Minnesota
00:06:46So the defense being played by Minnesota active hands here by Rudy gets the strip on Kevin Durant
00:06:52And we've seen that multiple times they're not having to run half-court offense because they're playing off their defense
00:06:58He mentioned earlier that offensively they're sixth in the NBA and that's a big reason why they create turnovers
00:07:04As Durant can't get that one but shengun with the tip in the duran has yet to score but shengun has six of the eight for houston
00:07:17Screen set for mcdaniels go bear rolls mcdaniels puts it up. No knocked out of bounds and it will stay with minnesota
00:07:25All right, dave i'm gonna give julius randall a hundred chances
00:07:29To get a bank shot in from this angle
00:07:33I mean the fade away. I fully expect he's gonna have a word or two and had a good time
00:07:39this we expect that fade away is off point
00:07:45The nba on espn is presented all season long by state farm like a good neighbor state farm is there
00:07:53and in part by burger king you
00:07:55And charl schwa
00:07:57Welcome back to the toyota center first an update on the minnesota star and anthony edwards who is missing his third consecutive game
00:08:04Due to a right foot injury sham charania told us and revealed that it was a toe infection
00:08:09The team has told us that he is day-to-day with a return in the near future
00:08:13But even in his absence this team is playing like some of their best basketball nazari told me
00:08:18They are six and one in january because of two words that their play is predicated on togetherness and family
00:08:24He said our connection on the floor reflects how intentional
00:08:28They are in carving space for one another off the floor with different team activities
00:08:32But it also doesn't hurt guys that in their continuity
00:08:35continuity with how they've been able to have their starting rotation the best in the league
00:08:40He said we trust one another we're finding one another and we're building and holding each other accountable for our goals this season
00:08:46I mean listen it was an ugly start for this team
00:08:52But they're playing without a point guard for for long stretches
00:08:58Anthony edwards is playing the point guard which takes away as as brilliant a player as he is
00:09:03There are some things he doesn't do when the defense is loaded up and staring at him initially
00:09:08here's duran who committed a foul on the other end and hits a three
00:09:13For his first basket
00:09:15And gets the rockets back within three
00:09:18Anthony edwards missing his ninth game of the season he missed nine games the last three years combined you know he wants to play
00:09:25And as angel mentioned he'll be back soon it is possible we could see him tomorrow night
00:09:30Randall's three off the side of the rim and jd davison the g-league mvp
00:09:36Last year getting some run as a point guard you touched on minnesota's lack of point guard play houston with van bleet's injury needs the minutes from davison
00:09:46As durant hits again he's got five quick points
00:09:51Well you wonder if davison being in the lineup is maybe because eme is coming to the realization that his team might need
00:09:59To play with some traditional minutes with the traditional point guard and what he likes about davison
00:10:05He's a fearless young man and he's more natural at the position
00:10:09than
00:10:10Amen thompson who has gotten a lot of run there
00:10:14Gobert with the block on shengu and it's batted right back to him and then smith's three off target
00:10:19mcdaniels who has seven points already gets the rebound gobert and transition
00:10:23Missed the layup but the tip it is good well that that
00:10:28Transition was a lot of trust the first pass to dante you've got to know he can catch it with very little vision
00:10:34And then the little dump down to rudy that is nicely done
00:10:38Gobert unavailable on tuesday against milwaukee
00:10:42Had too many flagrant fouls and from here on out every flagrant foul he gets will be
00:10:47A another suspension so he has to be careful as smith blocks mcdaniels kept alive by conley
00:10:54Oh
00:11:01Shot clock down to five randall trying to create space spinning there's the fall away but well defended by smith
00:11:07Picked up by mcdaniels gets it away in time before the shot clock expires
00:11:13Tough make but how about the defense from jabari smith a year ago before he put the time in to change his body
00:11:19He might have been on the deck with that randall push
00:11:23Conley bats it out of play 11 to shoot for houston
00:11:27So eme odoka sent jabari smith home this summer and said your body has got to be stronger folks
00:11:34If he doesn't commit to that aspect of his game there is no way he gets that shot blocked
00:11:39Smith in his fourth season out of auburn 22 years old was the third pick back in 2022
00:11:48Julius will bully a lot of guys and a lot of guys bigger than him that was really impressive individual defense
00:11:54Clint capella checking in he did not play the last two games as smith attacks missed it the first time got it back go and fouled
00:12:03First free throws of the game coming up for the rockets
00:12:06It's on jabari smith so nas reed will shoot a free throw on the other end and then they'll
00:12:26Have smith shoot the free throws from the personal foul afterwards
00:12:33As reed sixth man of the year two years ago playing maybe better this year
00:12:41And brian forte didn't like what he heard from jabari smith
00:12:45Jaden mcdan was over there encouraging the technical foul so was chris finch you saw the
00:12:55Arms out wide
00:12:58Smith 77 percent free throw shooter good stroke but can't knock it down take a look at our upcoming national tv schedule
00:13:06sunday's game from london and the mlk day slate on peacock and nbc
00:13:10sunday prime video orlando memphis peacock monday milwaukee atlanta triple header peacock nbc monday
00:13:17oklahoma city cleveland
00:13:19great win for the calves in our early game against philly dallas at nicks boston in detroit
00:13:26boston detroit top two teams in the east
00:13:30the boston suffix and the job
00:13:34staff and that team has done
00:13:36they're 25 and 15.
00:13:41a game up on the knicks for that number two spot in detroit best record in the east at 29 and 10.
00:13:48foul called on smith personal is first
00:13:52second team foul in houston
00:13:57in both conferences you've got
00:14:00quite a gap between one and two but then two to seven everybody's kind of lumped together
00:14:06we are officially in the second half of the season beginning right now as nazry gets the basket
00:14:11should be an entertaining final few months of the regular season as team's jockey for position
00:14:16a 10-nothing run by minnesota over the last two minutes and 20 seconds
00:14:20thompson out to davison for three spins out and one and done for houston
00:14:28and that three-point shooting will continue one for five to start the game for three six for 22
00:14:3525 percent three-point shooting in the last seven games
00:14:45for the houston rockets as durant hits the mid-range shot
00:14:49and he's found a groove here late in the first
00:14:52he has basically half of houston's total seven of the 15 and now a timeout
00:14:56i get the sense kevin understands when a game could be getting away so just takes matters into
00:15:06his own hands second defender there no problem
00:15:11the three-point shooting for houston is the worst in nba history now that's with a minimum of 203-point
00:15:16attempts and really until the last seven or eight years teams didn't shoot that many in a seven game
00:15:21span but we're told it's actually happened 19 000 times and again most of that over the last decade
00:15:28so that's quite a sample size and houston's struggling in the night one of five and three and
00:15:33now trailing by 12. just for some context in that it's like
00:15:39for kevin duran and alprin shangoon as a man drives hard it gets an opportunity here when you're
00:15:43not shooting well do exactly what he just did but context for that three-point home alprin and kevin duran
00:15:51in the fourth quarter teams are taking those two guys away they're saying ime you're going to one
00:15:56of your other players jabari a man somebody else is going to have to beat me and i'm going to give
00:16:01you a lot of cushion oklahoma city a team that takes away the paint just pack the paint in the fourth
00:16:07quarter and that's where that shooting becomes especially glaring and i think the other thing
00:16:12about the houston offense right because we can track absolutely everything in the game today
00:16:17they move at one of the slowest paces in their half-court offense and there's a lot of times
00:16:24where guys are it's iso heavy and guys are standing and so there's a lot going on offensively and they
00:16:32just have to try to keep shooting and keep being confident in the work because they're going to catch
00:16:38a rhythm their offensive rating is not awful for the season right it's still number four despite the bad
00:16:44three-point stretch they're in randall on the back down shot clock at four minnesota conversely four
00:16:51of eight from three now reed drives and scores i'll tell you what naz reed is cooking already he's got
00:16:57eight and he won six man of the year and chris finch told us before the game he's playing perhaps the
00:17:02best basketball in his career here and he's had a heck of a career great shepherd is a guy that can
00:17:07stroke it shooting better than 40 from three in his second nba season
00:17:16that gets the rockets back within nine of the two minute mark
00:17:23randall again on the back down out to bones highland has been terrific double figures
00:17:28each of the last three games bad pass there randall collects and a foul is called before the shot clock
00:17:36expires
00:17:40boy the initial defense so good and then with a little dig down by dorian finney smith
00:17:47almost comes up with a steal but they can't quite get it julius ends up with it is he fouled
00:17:54i mean there's obviously contact on the lower body and the crowd is look i think they're looking at the
00:18:00top part where it looks like reed shepard got some of the basketball
00:18:04to see if it occurs prior to the expiration of the shot clock so this has not been a challenge by
00:18:09email with doka they're looking to see did the foul occur before the shot clock expired it would be
00:18:15the first in the last two minutes and the first personal on shepherd with randall shooting free throws
00:18:19that headsets proving problematic over there no plenty of time plenty plenty of time
00:18:41you mentioned the lower body contact you see definitely got the ball
00:18:44but this is not a coach's challenge from udoka
00:19:11replay confirms that the foul occurs with point nine on the shot clock therefore
00:19:14randall shoot two free throws
00:19:22randall with seven points his first trip to the free throw line the nba celebrates dr
00:19:27martin luther king jr's pursuit of racial social and economic justice the time is always right
00:19:33to do what is right to learn more and get involved visit nba.com
00:19:37slash mlk julius randall three-time all-star could very well be
00:19:44heading to the all-star game again with the way he's playing this season for minnesota
00:19:49the balance they're jetting on the offensive end
00:19:52julius has got eight points mcdaniel's nine nas reed off the bench with eight points
00:20:00on the other side he got no balance no shooting and no assists rockets do not have an assist yet here
00:20:07in the first quarter and it's 31 20 minnesota after the randall foul shots both randall and mcdaniel's
00:20:16with nine apiece reed off the bench with eight durant has seven to lead houston
00:20:20thompson as baron jay falls to the deck hits shepherd for three second triple off the bench for reed shepard
00:20:28and that's the first assist for houston
00:20:36dorian finney smith
00:20:38defending randall finney smith playing just his tenth game with houston this year because of injury
00:20:43he's an excellent defensive player reed with the floater no good jalen clark with the offensive rebound
00:20:51rhythm bounce for highland the three off the mark rebound capella
00:20:55inside a minute to go in the opening frame shepherd got the hot hand
00:21:08single-handedly reed shepherd bringing houston back within five
00:21:12amen thompson doing a nice job with the ball in his hands understanding
00:21:17that reed shepherd has got it going so he is seeking him out
00:21:22he steps across half court he's like my eye is made two let me find him again
00:21:28shepherd barely played last year couldn't really get on the floor as reed answers with a three
00:21:33shepherd was a top three pick out of kentucky
00:21:37a year and a half ago but he's in the rotation this season
00:21:43and is averaging 13 points per game good defense by highland got right out on him
00:21:49shot clock at nine shepherd trying to get air space
00:21:55three on the timer topson has to let it fly and he nails a three
00:22:01his fingerprints are all over this last stretch by houston
00:22:05they've made four consecutive threes after a one for five start final seconds here the opening quarter
00:22:17randall driving hanging around and out durant did not get it away in time
00:22:24well despite the poor start shooting for houston the rockets have made a run thanks to reed shepherd
00:22:32off the bench and amend thompson they hit four threes in the final two minutes of this quarter
00:22:37it's a five point game after one
00:22:44state farm i'm here with julius randall earlier today you told us that your connection
00:22:48was your biggest strength how was that displayed on the defensive end to start
00:22:51uh it's good you know still a couple gameplay games we can clean up we gave reed shepherd three looks
00:22:58like wide open we can't do that uh so gotta clean that up other than that it's pretty good
00:23:04even in their runs you guys have been able to capitalize with runs of of your own how do you
00:23:08think that you guys have been able to spray it around offensively and cheering
00:23:12the state boys it's a game full of runs it's going to be ups and downs but
00:23:16biggest thing is control we can control and execute thanks dave well they certainly executed
00:23:22offensively but as shangun is fouled on the drive as randall mentioned they left reed shepherd open he
00:23:28had three threes thompson hit a three the rockets scored 13 points in the first nine minutes and 16
00:23:35points in the final three minutes of that first quarter
00:23:40it's a matter of time they're not going to shoot this poorly
00:23:43it's a matter of time over that duration of time you know i think obviously jabari smith has worked
00:23:50very hard he has shown himself capable at times of high level shooting but kevin durant was talking
00:23:56about this after a stretch of real struggle for jabari he said listen i don't care who you are in the
00:24:03nba if you don't see the ball go in it takes its toll on you and jabari you know sort of talked about
00:24:10against chicago the one win they've had in this stretch he made big shots you have to stay confident
00:24:19and we saw the lack of shooting maybe impact jabari smith jr and how he talked to the officials
00:24:24because he got a technical conley hits a long two and the lead back to seven
00:24:30mike conley year 1938 years old as thompson i think was trying for the reverse dunk and turns it over
00:24:41here's naz reed 11 points off the bench in that first quarter to lead all scores he's number two in
00:24:46bench scoring this year gobert penetrates mauled by shengun so gobert will go to the line
00:24:53first foul on shengun you see this team is uh very willing to give rudy gobert some touches and two-man action
00:25:04right because if you let your big touch it at least occasionally the four-time defensive player in the
00:25:10year is going to be a little bit cheerier and a little bit more engaged defensively
00:25:14he's got three shot attempts so far made one first free throw the game no good
00:25:18time for tonight's draft king sportsbook player pulse
00:25:24see the scoring averages for randall and durant and where they are so far in tonight's game
00:25:29draft king's the number one sportsbook for live betting use promo code splash when you sign up
00:25:34i'm going north with both their projections tonight
00:25:38at the ramp three of six this is after struggling shooting the ball
00:25:42last night he was seven four twenty three and over five three
00:25:48randall three for seven so far
00:25:51after 12 of 18 on tuesday against milwaukee when he had 29 points
00:25:56shot clock inside of five seconds jaylen clark an excellent defender but may have got a piece of
00:26:01the arm of a man thompson
00:26:03first on clark and so thompson will shoot free throws
00:26:11that is an area that thompson has improved he went from about 68 percent at the line to 80 percent
00:26:17this year
00:26:19i mean he is come on he is just scratching
00:26:22the surface of what his game will be
00:26:26two three years from now
00:26:28and even if they acquire the point guard
00:26:31of their future or if fred van bleek comes back look at the growth incrementally
00:26:37and i think these minutes playing with the ball in his hands and having to make decisions
00:26:43is going to raise his level on the offensive end
00:26:47i'm glad you mentioned van boolee because he would solve a lot of houston's problems but the torn acl
00:26:52in september is there a chance he comes back obviously that would be a game changer they would
00:26:58get a true point guard and a guy that can make three point shots second chance opportunities for
00:27:03minnesota and conley's three in and out
00:27:16here's shepherd conley staying right in his grill shangu try to hit him it somehow got the
00:27:23shepherd the kick out pass and the three off the mark rebound nas reed ahead to de vincenzo
00:27:29and de vincenzo gets the lay in his fifth point but at least that last sequence for houston
00:27:35there was more movement pace a little bit of crispness
00:27:40and as we say that you get the overthrow but a sloppy
00:27:46offense for houston this entire month again last in scoring in the month of january that's what they're
00:27:51missing they're missing leadership two championship experience in fred van bleek
00:27:56talked about the fourth quarter rose i mean they are 30th in almost every category in the fourth
00:28:01quarter you're telling me that fred van bleek somebody who understands where the ball needs to go how to
00:28:06get a group organized under duress and pressure of great defense and think about his championship
00:28:12season with toronto how quickly he won over kyle lowry and demar de rosen because of his big
00:28:18shot making now that wasn't drafted makes it even harder to crack the rotation to be an impact player on
00:28:25a great team
00:28:28shen good looking to attack gobert backs him down to the circle and the floater is out and rebounded by reed
00:28:40houston shooting 37 percent from the floor but only down eight they're three for eight at the line
00:28:48mcdaniels who had nine in the opening quarter attacks comes up short hits the deck
00:28:53and shen good with a clear
00:28:58and gobert greeting shepherd so back it out look to drive pull up two no good his first miss rebound
00:29:06divincenzo
00:29:10nobody gets mcdaniels in transition but he bricked the three and bounced right back to him divincenzo
00:29:15gobert tips at home that's multiple possessions of three and four opportunities off the offensive glass
00:29:25we're accustomed to seeing houston do that to teams
00:29:31houston was up six nothing early in second chance points but it's evened out
00:29:36now eight apiece shepherd off the shen good screen too strong in the three
00:29:41shen good with the offensive rebound bounce to tate and the reverse slam good for jay sean tate
00:29:47giving some minutes here in the first half
00:29:54played in about half the games this year for houston six-year pro out of ohio state
00:29:58eme udoka going deeper into his bench tonight after the game last night gobert with a nice touch in the paint
00:30:09you can see the value though of having jayden mcdaniels
00:30:13growing as a guy who they're comfortable putting the ball in his hands
00:30:21gobert again impacting everything defensively it hits the shot clock going to stay with
00:30:26they're going to say it was touched last by houston but i think the officials are going to
00:30:32confer and change that brian forte saw it
00:30:35good work by the officials to get together two guys see it differently they talk it over
00:30:43it will stay with the rockets
00:30:55here's smith looking for his first points 0 for 4 from the floor
00:30:59on the baseline he'll rise and miss back side for tate and the stick back two buckets off the bench
00:31:05for tate and he's playing hard defensively denied divin chenzo a catch on the last possession like
00:31:10hasn't been in the rotation davin chenzo drills a three-pointer that's his second three ball they've
00:31:17given a couple of open threes in transition you can see eme udoka's disgust he is barking at reed
00:31:23shepherd as they go off right now that's two possessions in a row two different minnesota guys got
00:31:28to look from three clean why it was hard for shepherd to get on the floor last year as a rookie
00:31:33point of the season 615 games down 615 to go so let's take a look at some mid-season storylines
00:31:41we'll start with the oklahoma city thunder the reigning champions who again have the best record
00:31:45in the league they've struggled with the spurs still one more to go with san antonio on espn in a
00:31:50couple weeks by the way detroit best team in the east right now and lebron james 23rd season most in
00:31:57nba history and the lakers 24 and 15 on the year and the scoring on pace to be the highest in a season
00:32:08in over 50 years
00:32:12low scoring game here though as houston shooting 36 percent for the floor
00:32:17they have just two baskets this quarter both by jay sean tate the reed shepherd takes care of that
00:32:23he's got to love it i love that he got shoot out on his way to the bench the family motto is don't be
00:32:28soft i i'd be uncomfortable if he is in my face chewing me out for sure because he can be intimidating
00:32:34but the kid comes right back on the floor and gets aggressive offensively that's great tough pass there just the
00:32:40second turnover by minnesota in the game shepherd finds durant rhythm three it's gone
00:32:48and i'll tell you this the pace reed shepherd is playing with offensively has changed the tone a
00:32:55little bit offensively for houston he's going full speed in everything he does and they're back within
00:33:02six duran has hit his last four shots and a push by akogi against bones highland he was upset about the
00:33:10foul on gobert rather than going at gobert he shoves highland so they're going to call a personal foul
00:33:19and then a technical foul both on josh akogi
00:33:24second team foul so it'll be a free throw for highland and then
00:33:28side out about well rudy is an excellent screener and you see the whistle come up and it is the
00:33:34frustration from the screen by rudy that causes him to push the poor bones
00:33:42and gobert then started to move towards akogi to make sure that there wasn't any more extracurricular
00:33:50activity second technical on houston in the game good hustle by akogi who's still talking to highland
00:33:57and it's out of bounds off of minnesota
00:34:08so back-to-back turnovers for minnesota after they had one for the first quarter and a half
00:34:13shepherd allowed to penetrate miss the floater soaring in there to bat it out is taped
00:34:18so keep in mind here both tate and capella are playing and if you see stephen adams that
00:34:32large figure looming over there on houston's bench he isn't uniform but we're under the understanding
00:34:39that he's not going to play and so a couple of guys getting run that maybe is a little earlier or
00:34:45out of sequence yeah coach udoka as randall banks it in again from that angle that was a
00:34:50two-pointer but he made told us before the game that because it's a back-to-back adams would not play
00:34:55tonight but he is in uniform on the bench for houston hearing four and a half to play in the first half
00:35:03durant mid-range no good boarded by randall
00:35:06averaging about seven rebounds per game to go with 22 points randall spinning and puts up an air ball
00:35:16on the layup trot duran in the open floor
00:35:19high off the window and down for kevin duran he's got 12.
00:35:26timeout by minnesota yeah chris bench gonna call a timeout feels the momentum going
00:35:30kevin duran thinks he gets fouled here just watch the end of the play and then basketball playing
00:35:36off the defense watch the release point where kevin lets us go i mean good luck checking that
00:35:41michael chamberlain moved into seventh all-time in the nba scoring list he is about 40 points away
00:35:52from passing dirk navinski and moving into sixth all-time and by the end of the year should be
00:35:58challenging michael jordan for fifth and then in year 20 for durant next year likely
00:36:06moving ahead of kobe bryant into fourth i mean if you're kevin duran a kid who grew up
00:36:11in maryland like the next two guys after dirk what are you thinking
00:36:20and he's in year 19 but he's only 37 remember he came into nba so young that
00:36:28he could be playing for three four more years he's five of nine from the floor tonight the rest of the
00:36:35houston starters are five for 20. shangun has really struggled but he does have 10 rebounds
00:36:40turnover houston reed in transition lob for mcdaniel's and out of bounds
00:36:47officials
00:36:50discuss and say that it will be minnesota ball this guy'd be a heck of a target in an end zone
00:36:55in traffic
00:36:59he caught that one right at the rim too but couldn't put it down
00:37:02shot clock at five deep vincenzo on the step back no good minnesota six of 19 from three
00:37:14one for nine in the quarter another turnover reed all the way one-on-one scores and he leads minnesota with 13.
00:37:22i don't know if you're trying to set up the the texans patriots promo with the uh
00:37:34houston will be on the road in new england we have that game by the way on our air on sunday as uh capella
00:37:38scores it's just certain guys you feel like the ability to catch in traffic on the move with speed
00:37:45mcdaniel's one of those guys
00:37:50year six for mcdaniel's
00:37:53here's reed on the face up shot clock down to five bones highland has not scored yet
00:38:00randolph short on the three
00:38:04the houston struggles from three outside of reed shepard apparently have rubbed off on houston
00:38:09around minnesota rather
00:38:15smith with the pull up and he still can't find that he's 0 for 6. this is the thing about houston
00:38:20both of these teams are good enough defensively to just hang in there by playing defense
00:38:26mandel will go to the line fourth team foul on houston
00:38:32capella picks up his first next week's nba wednesday doubleheader on espn is the start of rivals
00:38:38this week the cabs in charlotte to take on a hornets team that
00:38:43hammered the lakers hammered oklahoma city speaking of the thunder they'll be in milwaukee for the second game
00:38:53randall now with 12 points
00:38:59highland at the bench
00:39:02and the starting five with the exception of divincenzo out there for minnesota reed is out there for him
00:39:08so we always talk about closing quarters chris french brings what has been just a tremendously
00:39:15productive group back on the floor to finish this out
00:39:21two minutes to go in the half minnesota by six led by as many as 12 houston has not led in this first half
00:39:29durant being checked by mcdaniels gives it up with five to shoot a koge downhill thompson reed flies by
00:39:36shangun blocked by gobert just incredible his presence changed everything on that possession
00:39:44between the legs passed by mcdaniels and it ends up being a can three by naz reed his third triple
00:39:51he's just on fire you got the three guys in double digits mcdaniels randall and reed
00:39:56thompson in the lane minute and a half remaining leads back to nine for minnesota
00:40:05duran not getting a touch topson no and randall clears two possessions where rudy's defense and
00:40:15impactful he was communicating on that screen and roll the prior possession so many guys just deterred
00:40:21from going to the lane great hands by durant who's had several deflections here in the first half
00:40:27at three on two and durant fouled out the basket was just about to say
00:40:35didn't look like they were gonna get a good shot but with kevin durant it always seems to be a good
00:40:41shot even with a hand in his face he talked about the seven for 23 last time out so i feel like i was
00:40:46getting good shots i mean this guy is very comfortable under contest the ability to stay focused look how
00:40:54pure that form is falling down absorbing the contact this guy's so special he's got 14 points tonight
00:41:02after a slow start he's up to 15 that's his first free throw attempt to the game
00:41:07he's two for two from three he was one for his last ten
00:41:10his efficiency year to year is incredible this is his 15th straight year that he shoots better than 50
00:41:18percent for the floor he commits a foul there on reed where reed has gone to this move a few times
00:41:26it's sort of similar to what you see donovan mitchell do the high little gather in front of the defender
00:41:33not just a three-point shooter he's really after being undrafted six years ago out of lsu really
00:41:42become a very good all-around offensive player
00:41:48this is the free throw though coming up at halftime presented by hyundai palisade coach malone
00:41:55joining windy perk and malika excellent first game between cleveland and philadelphia
00:42:00and we'll check out a few other games going on right now in the nba one of two for reed
00:42:07michael malone looks far less stressed than a typical january over the last 15 years
00:42:14a nice addition to the studio game final minute here of the first half minnesota by seven
00:42:22shengu going at gobert and got him deep gobert did not go for the block and shengu scores that's
00:42:28twice now he's gotten rooting on that exact kind of move where he's just trying to bury him right
00:42:34beneath the cylinder seven second difference in the game and shot clocks here at the end of the first
00:42:40half a half seemingly dominated by minnesota but you look up and it's a five-point margin
00:42:47mcdaniel's a three to shoot gives it up to randall randall with one rejected
00:42:52and it's a shot clock violation great defensive play by jabari smith jr well how about the closing speed
00:43:02by jabari i mean it looks like he's got a step but he's like uh-uh sir
00:43:09sort of a side view contest doing this a little frustrated i like the no call
00:43:14and a spike by smith seven point three plenty of time to get up the floor here for houston
00:43:21chance to get maybe within two at halftime here shepherd trying to get loose drives the lane out to duran
00:43:27great look
00:43:33randall from three-quarter court comes up short in the half comes to an end kevin duran
00:43:41making a move late gets houston within two at the break duran made seven of his last eight shots 18
00:43:50points reed had 17 points in 14 minutes off the bench doris mentioned he provided a spark shooting
00:43:59he also did a passing there to duran
00:44:06the nba halftime presented by hyundai palisade
00:44:11and who do you think the game ball goes to
00:44:13it wasn't just jaylen tyson scoring it's his play making too and that's our more in the moment
00:44:35it's brought to you by hyundai palisade coach how did this last play of the game come together for the
00:44:40caps what a great comeback 13-4 close but on this play you can see malika tie game eight seconds to
00:44:46go no timeouts for either team i want you to key on don to mitchell right here who the play is for
00:44:52but as i run this you're gonna see philadelphia does a great job of taking him out of the play
00:44:57all right right here they're not letting him come up the floor he wants to get this high post iso
00:45:02they kill the play lonzo ball saying i only got five seconds to get this ball in who's the guy that's
00:45:07open the guy who is open is the star of the game as we just saw the ball goes into jaylen tyson and on
00:45:14this play the best part about this is as he drives this he's not going to try to make a hero play he
00:45:19does his job he drives it he draws joelle and bead and you can see evan mobley working right behind it
00:45:26beautiful drop off pass and then moby does the rest for a big time finish and a hell of a road
00:45:31win for the cavaliers going into philly getting two wins in a row yeah then we talked about philadelphia
00:45:36or the cavaliers rather needing to find consistency and jaylen tyson was that consistency for this team
00:45:43this evening a beautiful dime there julius randall though going up for this one
00:45:51grown man basketball there for strongest left hands in the league
00:45:56this halftime is presented by the all-new hyundai palisade hybrid visit hyundaiusa.com
00:46:06nba halftime presented by hyundai palisade we have a real treat tonight so far we have had two
00:46:13excellent games here on espn but at the break it's the timberwolves that led wire to wire they
00:46:17hung on to a two-point lead here at halftime as we welcome you back inside our los angeles studio we
00:46:22harped on the rocket shooting ahead of this game and tonight brian it seems like they're turning
00:46:27around it was a little bit rough going on but then reed shepherd the young guy had three straight
00:46:32possessions where he nailed threes and that broke the ice for the rockets this really loosened up
00:46:38their offense and that set up the man kevin durant who has been the superstar they've needed scoring
00:46:44down the stretch of the first half getting them in position to be in this game i agree more minutes for
00:46:48reed shepherd he unlocks so much and he's not just a shooter he's a really damn good all-around
00:46:54basketball player but i'm still looking at afro shangun like he's he has eight points but he
00:47:00struggled finishing in the paint i would like him to go more dribble handoff actions bringing rudy
00:47:05away from the basket putting him in more picking roles and getting easier looks whether it's picking
00:47:11pops that isolation on rudy he's a four-time defensive player of the year for a reason well the
00:47:16the rockets are shooting almost 54 percent from three here in this first half including
00:47:20three of three from deep for kevin durant uh before we head to break and send you guys back to houston
00:47:25have you all seen that trend going on on social media where everyone's showing themselves in 2016.
00:47:31you know the 10 years later thing man that's a bad haircut this is our crew you look good oh hey
00:47:36hey house look at that slim trim part wait a minute he was not on the celtics in 2016.
00:47:43he was 21 years old in that picture let me have my moment there you go i want to leave my eyebrows
00:47:49that back in 2016. that trend could uh stay there high flying off the glass all right we got a good one
00:47:56second half from houston right after this
00:48:03this halftime is presented by the all-new hyundai palisade hybrid visit hyundaiusa.com
00:48:11it's by state farm
00:48:14minnesota timberwolves led by as many as 12 in the first half but it's just a two-point game as we get
00:48:19ready for the third the closest it's been since it was 14 13 in the middle of the first quarter
00:48:24first half stats brought to you by rin boke kevin durant went seven of his last eight three of three
00:48:30from three reed shepherd off the bench sparked houston's offense as he went three of four from behind
00:48:38the arc okay bashed doris burke and angel gray with you rudy gobert very much in the mix to win
00:48:44his fifth defensive player of the year award and we saw why in that first half was terrific on that end
00:48:49his impact on the defensive end is felt in multiple position uh possessions
00:48:53chris finch always says if we can get him back and set then we are very tough to score on
00:48:59so deter deter a second player now challenge a shot which is going to lead to a transition opportunity for
00:49:05his team and this to me is at minnesota at his best this entire half forcing misses or turnovers
00:49:13playing off their defense getting out to transition but you're right he could become the first five-time
00:49:18winner of that award before this is all set it up and houston with gobert as the primary defender is
00:49:24four of thirteen so far in this game
00:49:28gobert also at seven rebounds and six points in that first half here's angel well doris you just
00:49:34mentioned that the strength for minnesota right now has been their transition offense right now they
00:49:38have 16 fast break points in one of the previous huddles the communication was how they have to get back and
00:49:44communicate on where each person is they were very frustrated with the lack of communication and
00:49:49finding shooters in transition expecting that to be an adjustment in the second half and an eight one run
00:49:55to end that first half for houston a 12 to five run angel to close out the first quarter
00:50:03rangle attacking and scores against shangun
00:50:05shangun he punishes people julius on the dribble drive looked like shangun might have taken a shot
00:50:12but that is julius bully ball at its best randall's got 14 read with 17 to pace minnesota
00:50:20houston is one and lost four or five coming into this game tonight as chengu gets the basket of foul on
00:50:28randall second foul on randall it's important stretch for houston they're finally getting to catch up with
00:50:33their home games they played the fewest in the league and they lost the first game of back-to-back
00:50:38last night against okc just great navigation by kevin durant nice little up fake to get julius committed
00:50:45but expect to see this right with kevin durant at the elbow and below the free tour line he is looking his
00:50:53target is alfred shangun and kevin's talked about this he's like i haven't played with a low post center
00:51:00with as many offensive choices as alfie shangun will uh will present he is so talented alprin catching in
00:51:10traffic finishing with both hands scoring against size and kevin has talked about enjoying sort of
00:51:17watching him grow four assists for durant many of those two shangun as ime udoka is going to challenge
00:51:25the call on the floor of being out of bounds off of shangun ruled minnesota ball so they will take a look
00:51:34while we go to break you see the swat by shangun does look like it's off the fingertips of mcdaniel's
00:51:41dallas and the knicks boston and detroit a matchup of the teams with the top two records in the eastern
00:51:47conference from morgan nba.com or visit the nba app and we got two teams here tonight as that
00:51:54challenge by ime udoka is successful so he will keep his challenge for later houston ball chance to
00:52:00take its first lead the rockets a game out of second or two games out of second minnesota a game out of
00:52:05second in the competitive western conference shangun underneath to okogi onto durant lets it fly got it
00:52:13rockets take the lead for the first time and durant is four of four from three
00:52:25houston is seven for its last nine from three-point range conley no good inside shangun pushing pace
00:52:33five on three pull up three off the mark and a foul underneath is gobert shoves shangun
00:52:39so it's last houston possession ball touches the paint and it's amazing how many times something good
00:52:48happens just swing swing right to one of the great scorers in history next up dirt novitski after that
00:52:57michael jordan keep going kevin durant he's now 35 away from passing novitski and moving into sixth all
00:53:04time a foul again on gobert so two quick fouls on him three team fouls on minnesota
00:53:14he touched on the ball movement for houston they went the entire first quarter until about a minute and
00:53:19a half without an assist they now have 11 and we're early in the third
00:53:26minnesota's got 11 for the whole game durant mcdaniel's got the block
00:53:29leads for randall on the break and randall
00:53:37down the basket and one for julius randall i'm telling you he is punishing that is the second time
00:53:44shangun's been on the receiving end of a drive by randall into contact and he remains on the ground
00:53:51the second timing of that by jayden mcdaniel's just exceptional defensive possession and there's the
00:54:02contact in the end one he acknowledged to us before the game he's in a much better place the trade was
00:54:07shocking from new york prior to last year said he understands his energy is vibe his happiness impacts
00:54:15those around him and said he's really worked on that and being a leader to a lot of the younger guys
00:54:23takes maturity to make that efficient gabe and understand that how you show up every day
00:54:29you know can have a negative impact if you're setting a tough tone
00:54:32you're 12 for randall second with the wolves durant wants to take gobert gobert with the poke
00:54:43and now gobert up the floor durant is all over him taking his jersey
00:54:48out of his shorts but no foul is called and then shangun on the other end missed it mcdaniel's with
00:54:53the rebound gobert's down the court can they get it to him di vincenzo saw it late randall missed the
00:55:00layup but a foul he was stripping gobert's jersey the entire way up the floor i think he was stunned
00:55:11that rudy stripped him on the cross the ball comes loose i mean look at him grab his jersey
00:55:21oh my goodness and then chris finch got a technical because he
00:55:25he just saw live but we just showed the audience as durant makes the free throw
00:55:33he still can't believe they didn't call durant for the foul there on gobert
00:55:42all i know is gobert's jersey was tucked on defense and was untucked by the end of that play
00:55:47so randall at the line because of the personal foul
00:55:56on houston second team foul
00:56:03and randall five of six at the line here's angel gray well guys i know that chris finch wasn't smiling
00:56:09there but one player that he did say was bringing more of that was julius randall he said this year
00:56:14he's a little bit more smiley and just understanding the self-work that he put in
00:56:18that you were alluding to dave but also he was telling me just being more intentional with his
00:56:23impact with other people and understanding that the pressure wasn't on him the big word that chris
00:56:27finch also mentioned in the second year with this team he said there's a trust
00:56:31that understanding we want the best thing for him and he just allows himself to be a better leader
00:56:36this year he said angel the playoff run last year as well a man thompson with a double clutch and slam
00:56:43ties the game at 62. but just to finish that point it was the run for randall in the postseason finch
00:56:49said he thought in the first two rounds randall was a top five player that postseason as he scores there
00:56:55against duran
00:56:59randall has all nine of minnesota's points here in the first three minutes of the quarter
00:57:04randall has 11 points meanwhile in three and a half minutes as smith gets his first
00:57:34points in the game and he'll look to complete the three-point play as gobert commits another foul
00:57:39his third
00:57:42all coming in the first three and a half minutes of this quarter
00:57:47go to the hoop with bad intentions and don't fear the shot blocker go into his chest
00:57:53and jabari that is a power move and again the added strength making a difference we've seen at both ends
00:58:04in the first half at the line it's 17 points last night and a loss to oklahoma city
00:58:17averaging a career best 15 points per game on the year gobert 3000 exactly a two-minute span we'll check
00:58:25out read on the floor smith completes the three-point play one point game again
00:58:33minnesota has the best record in the nba in the month of january six and one best record in the league
00:58:39along with oklahoma city since thanksgiving after a slow start they have rounded into form and without
00:58:46anthony edwards again tonight his second straight game missed with a toe injury shot clock expires and
00:58:54durant again with excellent defense for houston
00:59:03talked about it probably an underrated aspect of this guy's game
00:59:08the ability to he saw him take the peek at the shot clock and then step up and challenge
00:59:16durant bumped put it on the rim and will go to the line
00:59:20he's two for two tonight has 22 points
00:59:24already more than he scored last night
00:59:27for the entire game as steve vincenzo commits his second foul
00:59:30they're in the penalty so free throws for houston the rest of the quarter with 752 to go
00:59:40do you know how many times i wish i could hear the banter between players on the floor
00:59:45like there's just dante di vincenzo and kevin durant had a little interaction i just
00:59:51want to know what was said that one looked pleasant though yeah i'm here for all of it
00:59:57pleasant and the unpleasant
00:59:59pleasant and the unpleasant
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