Houston vs Minnesota Prediction: the Rockets to Win Rebounds Bur Lose the Match

Prediction for the NBA match between Houston vs Minnesota, which will take place on February 22nd. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the teams' conditions! Several betting options are available.

Houston

The Rockets have dropped to fourth in the Western Conference, with a 34-21 record, and they're almost caught up with the Los Angeles Lakers, who are in fifth. There's only a 0.5 handicap between the teams at this point.In the last game before the All-Star Weekend break, Houston lost to Golden State at home (98-105). Before that, Ime Udoka's team had two home wins in a row over Toronto (94-87) and Phoenix (119-111), but had previously lost six games in a row. In fact, they lost to Minnesota (114:127) away and to Brooklyn (98:110 at home, 97:99 away) twice, even though they are one of the weakest teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Rockets are still pretty solid on defence though, ranking sixth in the league with an average of 108.6 points allowed per game. On offence, they're only 17th though, averaging 112.7 points per game.

Minnesota

The Timberwolves haven't played since the All-Star Game, and in their last game before the break they hosted Oklahoma, the Western Conference leader, at home.Chris Finch's team showed their quality by outscoring the Thunder 116-101.Actually, it was Oklahoma whom Minnesota fought for the first lines of the West last season, and now the Wolves are gradually approaching the playoff zone.

As of today, they're sitting pretty at seventh in the conference standings, with a 31-25 record and a close gap of just 1.0 wins from the top 6.It's also worth mentioning that Minnesota's defence is solid, ranking fourth with an average of 108.1 points allowed per game. On the flip side, their offence is a bit of a different story, ranking 20th with an average of 111.5 points per game.

H2H Meetings

The opponents have already played three face-to-face matches in this championship, and Minnesota has beaten Houston twice.

Expert Betting Tips

Even though Houston and Minnesota have scored more points than exoected in all three games of the season series, we don't think they'll do the same here. After all, the two teams are in the top-6 for defensive rating and will have to find a way to stop each other from scoring.We're also betting on Houston to win the rebounding category, as the Rockets are the season leader in this component.As for the outcome, we think Minnesota will succeed. The Timberwolves have been in much better shape lately than Houston.

Our picks:

TU (216.5) for 1.91

H2 (+4.5) for 1.71

Rebounds W1 for 1.67