Timberwolves Host Rockets; Look to Even Series

Timberwolves Look to Build Off of Game 3 Route

The Houston Rockets and the Minnesota Timberwolves will battle in Game 3 of their playoff series at Target Center. The TWolves bounced back in it’s first home game and look to even the series tonight. TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS North (Minnesota) Oddsmakers opened the Rockets as -5-point favorites versus the Timberwolves, while the game’s total opened at 219. Houston is now a 6-point favorite. The total has fell to 217.5. The Timberwolves hosted their first playoffs game since 2004. Minnesota shot 50 percent from the floor in the game three route. They also shot 55.6 percent from 3-point range. Not to be outdone the team handed out 29 assists while rolling to a 121-105 win.

Rockets Look to Rebound

Houston star James Harden scored 29 points in Game 3. That was a huge bounce back from a 2-of-18 shooting effort in Game 2. Shooting guard Eric Gordon continues to struggle from the floor. Gordon is putting up 10.3 points in the postseason on 28.2 percent shooting. He’s only 6-of-26 from 3-point range. Gordon averaged 18 points during the regular season. PF Ryan Anderson (ankle) missed the first two games of the series. He went 4-of-6 from 3-point range in his Game 3 return. The Rockets shot 47.5 percent from the field in the second half. They had seven turnovers and were just 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from 3. Chris Paul had 17 points and six assists, but the Rockets now need to make an adjustment. Houston wants to get back to its defensive approach. They want to limit Minnesota as it did in the first two games of the series. The Timberwolves averaged 91.5 points per game in the first two games. They only shot just 38.8 percent from the field in Game 2.

Timberwolves Need Game 3 Jimmy Butler

Minnesota All-Star swing-man Jimmy Butler averaged 12 points in the first two games of the series. He only attempted a total of 17 shots in those games. He was a different player in game three in front of the home fans. Butler exploded for a team-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting. He was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, and added series highs of seven rebounds and five assists in the win. Reserve PG Derrick Rose is averaging 14 points in the series. That is way up from his 8.4 during the regular season. PG Jeff Teague scored a series-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting in Game 3. The Timberwolves hit Fifteen 3-pointers in Saturday’s win. That is a huge reversal of the regular season. The TWolves hit the fewest 3’s per game of any of the NBA teams. Minnesota also got Karl-Anthony Towns more involved on the offensive end. The All-Star center had nine shots in each of the first two games. He scored a total of 13 points. On Saturday, he had 18 points, including 12 in the second half.

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