Timberwolves Pose Tough Playoff Matchup For Rockets

The Houston Rockets are just two weeks away from the playoffs, and they will soon meet their matchup in the first round.

One of the teams that could easily be Houston's first opponent is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have been hovering around the No. 7 seed, which the Rockets would face if they finish as No. 2.

The Wolves marched all the way to the Western Conference Finals a year ago behind an amazing effort from Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. However, the latter was traded to the New York Knicks just before the start of training camp.

Minnesota's abrupt trade right before the start of the season pushed the Wolves back in the standings, but they have found some momentum in the second half of the year that makes them a scary team to go up against.

This season, the Timberwolves and Rockets split their season series as each team picked up a road and home win. Houston won in overtime in the series opener in Minneapolis back in November, but then the Wolves evened up the series behind a ferocious comeback in Houston.

Minnesota took care of business at home in early February before Houston closed out the season series with a win right after the All-Star break.

Both teams have size to work with, which could hurt Houston's biggest strength, but the Rockets have more talent from top to bottom. Edwards might be the best player in the series, but the Rockets will have a lot of opportunity to pull out some stops to make things incredibly difficult for him.

If the Rockets can find a way to limit Edwards, the series will be theirs.