After a long wait, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally take another play-off victory. Thanks to a strong second half, the Wolves break away and finally win easily 121:105 (BOXSCORE) against the Houston Rockets. In Game 3, Karl-Anthony Towns finally comes back.
The wait was worth it! For 14 years the fans in Minneapolis were no longer allowed to celebrate a play-off victory – until that evening. “This town deserves to be in the playoffs a little longer,” Jimmy Butler said after the game. “As long as we defend, we’ll be in a good position to win again.”
That’s what they did in Game Three against the Rockets. Houston sank “only” 15 threesomes in 41 attempts (36.6 percent). Overall, the guests achieved a throwing quota of 45.7 percent. But the Timberwolves did it better in almost all respects. The hosts converted 10 turnovers of the Rockets into a strong 17 points (13:2 fast break points) and sunk 15 threes – but only 27 attempts (55.6 percent).
Minny already took an 11-point lead in the second quarter, but Houston managed to reduce it to one point just before half-time with the help of a few threesomes. After his rather weak shooting evening in game 2, James Harden became his team’s top scorer again this time. The Beard scored 29 points and 7 rebounds and assists each. Against the runs of the Timberwolves after the change of sides he also had very little to oppose.
Minnesota finished the third quarter with a 26-14 run, with which the hosts were somewhat outdistanced. In the final section Butler and Co. finally finished with a 15:3 and a little later again with an 11:2 run. So the game was decided in favour of the Wolves.
In addition to the strong butler (28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists), four other players scored double-digit points – including Karl-Anthony Towns. After weak performances in the first two matches, the centre remained pale at the beginning of the match. The Rockets successfully took Towns out of the game with numerous double teams, KAT did not show a single throwing attempt in the first quarter.
With a crashing dunk about Clint Capela in the second section, however, Towns gained new self-confidence, from then on he showed what he was made of. In the end, the 22-year-old scored 18 points (5/13 FG) and 12 rebounds. Jeff Teague also contributed 23 points and 8 assists, Andrew Wiggins (20) and Derrick Rose (17) were also convincing. On the Rocket side, Chris Paul (17 points, 6 assists) and Eric Gordon (15) were the most successful. Game 4 takes place again in Minneapolis during the night from Monday to Tuesday.