ROCKETS WIN!

Jalen Green scores 35 points to lead Rockets past Timberwolves 121-115

Rockets Jalen Green
Jalen Green had a big game! Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green scored 35 points, Alperen Sengun added 24 points and 13 rebounds and the Houston Rockets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-115 on Friday night.

Green finished 12 of 24 from the floor and was 5 of 11 on 3-pointers. Amen Thompson finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Houston, which shot 50%, including 13 of 26 on 3-pointers.

Jabari Smith Jr had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench in his first game back after missing 22 games with a broken bone in his left hand.

Anthony Edwards scored 37 points on 13-of-32 shooting, including 4 of 14 on 3-pointers. Edwards scored 25 points in the first half on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers.

Naz Reid had 22 points and eight rebounds, Jaden McDaniels added 21 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 16 points for Minnesota, which shot 45%, including 11 of 39 on 3-pointers.

Takeaways

Timberwolves: Mike Conley returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained right index finger, but he was in foul trouble for most of the night and finished with five points in 24 minutes.

Rockets: One area that coach Ime Udoka pointed to before the game where Smith’s return would help was rebounding. Houston outrebounded the Timberwolves 48-35.

Key moment

Tied at 108, Green made a 3-pointer with five minutes remaining to kickstart Houston’s 9-2 run to open up a seven-point lead with 48 seconds left.

Key stat

Edwards was 1 for 6 in the fourth quarter, including 1 of 4 on 3-pointers. He scored 3 points in the quarter as Houston sent double teams at him.

Up next

Minnesota hosts Oklahoma City on Sunday night, while Houston travels to Utah on Saturday night.

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A whole new ballgame. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

As of 9:42 Central Daylight Saving Time Friday night, the Astros (and all other baseball players) are officially the Boys of Summer, officially so far as the season is concerned anyway. When the summer solstice arrived last year the Astros were nine games off the lead in the American League West. So in addressing the rhetorical axiom “what a difference a year makes,” the difference in the Astros’ case is a whopping 14 games as they start the weekend atop their division by five games. At this point in the season last year the Astros’ record in one-run games was a brutal 5-14. In 2025 they are 13-7 in games decided by the narrowest of margins.

That the Astros are just 4-5 in road games against the two worst teams in the American League is no big deal, other than that every game counts in the standings. Still, just as was losing two out of three at the pathetic White Sox earlier this season, it is no doubt disappointing to the Astros to have only gotten a split of their four-game set with the Athletics. The A’s had gone 9-28 in their last 37 games before the Astros arrived in West Sacramento. The former-Oaklanders took the first game and the finale, as the Astros’ offense played bi-polar ball over the four nights. Two stat-padding explosion games that totaled 24 runs and 35 hits were bookended by a puny one-run output Monday and Thursday’s 5-4 10-inning loss. Baseball happens. Nevertheless, as the Astros open their weekend set versus the Angels, they have gone 17-7 over their last 24 games to forge their five-game division lead.

The New York Yankees’ offense has been by a healthy margin the best attack in the American League so far this season. The reigning AL champions snapped a six-game losing streak Thursday. The Yankees mustered a total of six runs over those six losses, including being shutout in three consecutive games. The baseball season is the defining “it’s a marathon not a sprint” sport. With 162 games on the schedule, combined with the fact that the gap in winning percentage between the best teams and the worst teams is smaller than in any other sport, making much about a series, or week or two of games is misguided, apart from all the results mattering.

The future is now

Without context, statistics can tell very misleading stories. Cam Smith is having a fine rookie season and has the looks of a guy who can blossom into a bonafide star and be an Astro mainstay into the 2030s. But it’s silliness that has anyone talking about the big month of June he’s having. Superficially, sure, going into Thursday’s game Smith’s stat line for the month read a .321 batting average and .874 OPS. Alas, that was mostly about Smith’s two monster games in the consecutive routs of the Athletics. Over those two games Cam went seven for nine with two home runs and two doubles. Over the other 14 games he’s played this month Smith is batting .213 with an OPS below .540.

Cam Smith is a long-term contender for best acquisition of Dana Brown’s tenure as General Manager. If his career was a single game Smith is still in the first inning, but if his career was a stock it’s a buy and hold. If the Astros were for some reason forced to part with all but two players in the organization, I think the two they would hold on to are Smith and Hunter Brown. Jeremy Pena would be another strong candidate, but he turns 28 in September and is two seasons from free agency (unless the rules change in the next collective bargaining agreement). Smith is 22 and under Astros’ control for another five seasons, he’s not even presently eligible for salary arbitration until the 2028 season. Brown turns 27 in August and is currently ineligible for free agency until after the 2028 season.

Angels in the outfield

Hunter Brown pitches opposite Yusei Kikuchi Friday night. Kikuchi was Dana Brown’s big in-season move last season, and Kikuchi was excellent with the Astros which set up to get the three-year 63 million dollar deal he landed with the Halos. After a slow start to his season Kikuchi has been outstanding the past month and a half, with a 2.28 earned run average over his last nine starts. Brown’s 1.88 season ERA is second-best in the big leagues among pitchers with the innings pitched to qualify in the category. Only Pirates’ stud Paul Skenes has a better mark, barely so at 1.85.

Kikuchi was a stellar rental who helped the Astros stretch their consecutive postseasons streak to eight. There was an absurd amount of vitriol over what Dana Brown gave up for him. Joey Loperfido is 26 years old and having a middling season at AAA. Will Wagner is 26 years old and back in the minors after batting .186 with the Blue Jays. Jake Bloss is the one guy who maaaaaybe some day the Astros wish they still had. Bloss is out into 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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