NBA Playoffs 2018: Houston Rockets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Game 3 live stream: Watch online
By Jason Patt
The top-seeded Houston Rockets head on the road to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 after winning the first two games of the series at home.
The Houston Rockets haven’t yet played their best, but they’re still up 2-0 on the Minnesota Timberwolves as the series shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Saturday night. The Rockets squeaked out a win in Game 1 and dominated Game 2 despite James Harden posting one of the worst shooting games of his career.
Harden carried Houston to the win in Game 1 with 44 points, only to follow that up with a 2-of-18 shooting performance in the 102-82 Game 2 win. However, Chris Paul bounced back from his own disastrous performance in Game 1 to completely control Game 2, going for 27 points and eight assists.
The Rockets still shot only 36.5 percent in Game 2, and it wasn’t all because of Harden’s bricklaying. Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza missed their share of open looks as well, so things can get even uglier for Minnesota if Houston starts clicking on all cylinders.
The Wolves obviously have plenty of room for improvement themselves. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler haven’t gotten the job done, with the All-Star duo combining for only 37 points in the first two games of the series. Minnesota has to do a better job getting them involved, and it’s also on those two guys to show more initiative and take things over.
Houston’s defense deserves credit for locking the Wolves down, but Minnesota had one of the best offenses in the NBA in the regular season and should be performing better. Perhaps being back on their home floor will bring out the best in the Wolves, though even that may not be enough.
On the injury front, Ryan Anderson could return from an ankle injury for Houston.
Date: Saturday, April 21
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Venue: Target Center
TV Info: ESPN, FOX Sports North, AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Live Stream: Watch live on FuboTV. Sign up now for a free seven-day trial. Cable subscribers can also watch on WatchESPN.
Next: All live stream info in one place
It’s hard to be much worse than the Wolves were for much of Game 2, so expect a better effort out of them in a desperation game at home. Still, if the Rockets play their game and hit 3-pointers at their usual rate, Minnesota likely can’t stack up due to the math problem of 3 > 2.