The Houston Rockets spent five whole quarters off their game, and they escaped unscathed, taking a 2-0 series lead as they look ahead to Game 3 against the Minnesota Timberwolves this weekend. Boy, that was easy.
The Rockets are back, and they didn’t even play THAT good
Houston blew out the Timberwolves in Game 2, and it still feels like they can be better.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Houston really should have lost Game 1 — and would have, without a dominant 44-point James Harden performance, one of just three players to score double figures for the team, enough to eek out a narrow three-point win. Game 2 on Wednesday bizarrely started the exact same way. With 1:42 left in the frame, Houston trailed 22-13.
Harden started especially rough and never recovered, finishing with 12 points on 2-of-18 shooting. (He did dish seven assists, record three steals and three blocks, and contributed in a few other areas.) Instead, it was Chris Paul and Gerald Green (what) picking up the slack, with Paul chipping in 27 points and eight assists while Green recorded 21 points off the bench.
All that led to a 102-82 Rockets’ win — despite their miserable first quarter! And despite Harden’s worst game all year. And despite the team shooting 31 percent behind the arc! Although that last stat is relative, since they still hit 16 thanks to attempting 51 shots from deep.
Minnesota isn’t remotely good enough to beat Houston in this first-round series, especially after they blew a golden chance to steal one in Game 1. Karl-Anthony Towns has scored 13 points combined through the first two games, a miserable showing for one of the game’s best young players.
Reward Houston’s defense for that. They can’t take all the credit, and Minnesota has done a miserable job establishing him, but Towns’ five points on Wednesday on 2-of-9 shooting was helped by the Rockets. They play a switching style, but they know Towns is big enough to punish the Pauls and the Eric Gordons of the team. They’ll aggressively double team in those situations, keeping opponents off rhythm, and it’s no surprise that Houston boasted the sixth-best defense during the regular season.
It looks like Ryan Anderson may return in Game 3 from an ankle sprain, and it was lineups with Anderson at center that truly destroyed Minnesota during the regular season. The team’s still missing Luc Mbah a Moute, and his return is expected by the second round, too. Any thoughts that Houston might not be up for the task can probably be erased, at least for now?
This isn’t even how good the Rockets really played all year, and they still won by 20. Goodnight, Minnesota.
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