Unlike Yao or Artest or Battier or, heck, Mutombo, when you hear someone utter Brooks it’s unlikely you know who in the world they’re talking about. But Sunday, Brooks - as in second-year guard Aaron Brooks - was a main factor in Houston’s victory. Loyal Wolves fans should not be shocked by this, as Brooks’ lone other career double-double came here Dec. 20.

Not surprisingly, Minnesota’s gameplan tonight was to stop Yao Ming - isn’t everybody’s? So that meant allowing others to get some open looks. Brooks only hit eight shots, but he took a team-high 17 from the field and was the sneaky reason Houston came out on top.

Oh - and then there’s that little 17-0 run over a six-minute span in the third quarter. Yeah, that helped too.

All in all, not a horrible game for the Wolves. It was said - and I agree - that the game was pretty even minus that big Rockets run. Something, though, has to be done about that defensively. Ryan Gomes said after the game (twice) that it was a 20-point loss. And if you take away the five points by Carney in the final 40 seconds, it sure was close to that.

The Wolves will work out at 11 a.m. Monday to get ready for Tuesday’s game against the Warriors. The (sorta …) good news? No Golden State starters stand taller than 6-11. Still - wanna bet McHale opts to use the eight-foot practice dummy?

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Hello from Target Center where the Timberwolves tonight take on Yao Ming and the Rockets.

(UPDATED: 5:25 p.m.) Coach Kevin McHale will again use Jason Collins at the starting center spot against a lanky Houston team. One lineup switch coming at you, though: Sebastian Telfair will not play at all. He is not on the active players list for tonight’s game.

McHale this morning said Telfair was bothered by a sore groin. And now this afternoon we learned that Bassy wants to play, but the trainers feel otherwise. McHale, who was glued to Big Ten basketball on the TV before meeting with the media at 4:40, said his next stop was to speak with the trainers regarding an update on Telfair. Whatever was said convinced McHale enough to hold Telfair out.

Other tidbits for tonight’s game:

-Houston has won six straight over the Wolves, but lost five of its past six on the road
-Ryan Gomes has averaged 19.1 points per game since the All-Star break (he averaged 11.5 prior to the break)
-Craig Smith is shooting 79.2 percent from the field (19-for-24) over the last four games
-Minnesota as a team has shot 47.9 percent from the field the last six games
-Houston’s average margin of victory this season is 10.6 points, but the Rockets are 3-7 this season in games decided by three points or less
-Eight Houston players average 80 percent or better from the free throw line

Seventy minutes til the tap. Enjoy the game.

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