First Time NBA All-Star? ⭐️

Only two day after a loss in Minnesota, Houston returns home looking for revenge. Anthony Edwards dominated the previous matchup highlighted by a few insane dunks — will the Rockets' struggling defense fare any better this time around? 🏀 (3 min read)

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Let's Run It Back

Now that an exciting weekend of playoff football is over, let's get back to basketball! The Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets square off tonight in a rematch of this past Saturday's exciting contest. Anthony Edwards carried an injury-plagued Minnesota squad to a win in that one, dropping a season high 44 points and slamming home this jaw-dropping dunks in the process 🔨

  • Despite missing both of their star big men in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, the Wolves found a winning formula by running everything through their 21-year-old superstar. Edwards has been heating up of late, and is making a strong push for his first All-Star appearance 🔥

While Minnesota hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire this season, they look like the far superior team in this matchup. Houston has struggled to generate any consistency in a fairly obvious tanking season — it's been disappointing to watch such a talented collection of young players fail to come together. All signs point to head coach Stephen Silas being out the door, unless the Rockets can build some momentum in the latter half of this season 🚀

  • Spread: Timberwolves -5

  • Moneyline: T'Wolves -210 (bet $210, win $100), Rockets +176 (bet $100, win $176)

  • Over/Under: 233.5

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Young Studs

The Rockets' issues this season have been plentiful, but none have been more glaring than their turnstile defense. Houston has fallen prey to the lack of defensive focus that plagues many young teams without established veteran leadership, currently ranking 28th league-wide in defensive rating. They've struggled to integrate promising rookie Jabari Smith Jr. into the system, as the dominant two-way play he showcased at Auburn hasn't yet showed up at the NBA level. Luckily he's only 19 years old 🍼

  • Meanwhile, the squad's highly touted young stars have shown serious growing pains, most notably explosive guard Jalen Green

  • He's averaging 21.7 PPG, but his efficiency has left a lot to be desired, as well as his defensive effort

  • Green struggled in Saturday's contest, but has shown some recent flashes of the remarkable scoring upside that merited his selection as the No. 2 overall pick 🔥

Minnesota is similarly led by a dynamic scoring guard in Edwards, but Ant-Man has already made the leap that many are hoping to see from Green. After an impressive season that saw the Wolves return to the playoffs and Edwards emerge as the team's clear cut leader in only his second year, Ant has upped his scoring to 24 PPG while raising his efficiency and continuing to develop the holes in his game ⭐️

  • Many questioned Minnesota's costly acquisition of Gobert this past offseason, as the presence of two big men clogs the lane for Edwards and D-Lo

  • Ant did experience an adjustment period early in the season, but his adaptability, as well as the small-ball lineups due to injuries have him playing the best basketball of his young career

  • Ant was out for blood on Saturday, dropping the hammer on poor Rockets big man Alperen Sengun multiple times 😳

Sengun has seen his playing time increase in the last few months, and is coming off three straight games with 19+ points, but the Rockets have dropped 17 of their last 18 games 😳

Trivia Question: An All-Star appearance at age 21 would be a remarkable achievement for Edwards — who was the youngest All-Star ever?

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

For My Parlay Gurus

If he's going to pick up his first career All-Star nod, Edwards is going to need to keep rolling. Ant-Man made light work of the Rockets last time, and I don't see any reason why the result should be any different two days later. Look for another Wolves win powered by Edwards' high-octane scoring, plus I like the Jazz at home vs. the struggling Hornets 👇

  • Wolves -5 @ Rockets: -110

  • Jazz -7 vs. Hornets: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: At 19 years old, Kobe Bryant made history as the youngest All-Star ever in 1998 👀

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