The Houston Rockets lead in their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with 2-1, but their performances were not really convincing in the end. James Harden and coach Mike D’Antoni spoke on Sunday.
“I’d say we haven’t played really well the last few months,” said D’Antoni, whose team had by far the best record in the league. “So all this time I’ve been thinking about giving healthy players breaks. You can lose your rhythm. People say that doesn’t mean much – but it does. But we’ll catch each other.”
The Rockets had already secured their home advantage in the playoffs at the end of March, after which the historically good offense in particular came to a halt. This is now also evident in the playoffs. Against the Wolves, they have only scored 106 points per 100 possessions, which is an average number. In the Regular Season, the score was 112.2 points.
Asked when Houston last had a good rhythm, Harden said on Sunday: “It’s been a while. “But tomorrow is the perfect time for us to get our rhythm back.”
Game 4 of the series takes place on the night of Tuesday at 2 am in Minneapolis. “It’s pretty simple: we just have to play hard the whole game. Throws will fall, throws will miss, but as long as our defensive focus fits every possession, we don’t have to worry about the offense.”