Timberwolves Wrap: Season ends with Game 5 loss in Houston

He is now set to miss the first game at a minimum, and if this ankle injury persists during the playoffs, the Warriors will be left without their key point scorer hence even though they are currently the 5/4 favorites to win, making his appearances absolutely key to a title defense.

Clint Capela scored a game-high 26 points and hauled in 15 rebounds to help Houston make a another third quarter run and advance onto the second round with a 122-104 win at home over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

“This was a pretty good step for us, a step in the right direction, but we’ve got a long way to go”, James Harden said. Towards the end of the regular season, we heard pretty much all of the Wolves’ veterans talking about how hard it is to prepare for the playoffs in practice-you really need to be there to know what it’s like. Want to continue the discussion? The Cavs should come out firing at home, but a good start is nothing without a solid second half.

“I try to always have that pace”, said Capela, who has worked to build his endurance so he can play at maximum effort for 33 minutes, as he did during Game 5.

Houston will await the victor of the Utah-Oklahoma City series, which the Jazz lead 3-2 after the Thunder rallied from a big deficit Wednesday night to avoid elimination.

Minnesota had 23 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 17 from an energized Jeff Teague.

The Rockets are heavy favorites to end the series Wednesday night.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (22) drives to the basket and draws a foul from Houston Rockets center Nene Hilario during the first half in Game 5 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Houston. They’re not anxious about their shots. These top three candidates have been killing the game night in and night out during this season, but nearly all eyes are on Harden and James.

James beat his chest in triumph, then jumped on the scorers’ table to acknowledge the crowd. He finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on the night.

Stay alive In Oklahoma City, the Thunder fended off elimination on the back of their superstar Westbrook, who scored 20 of his 45 points in the third quarter. And they’ll also need to contain Mitchell, one of the best players in this year’s playoffs. Russell Westbrook has that ability by himself, let alone adding Carmelo Anthony and Paul George to the mix.

In the third quarter, those sharpshooters sure came to life. “His energy was everything”. Houston ultimately won the quarter by 15 points. Other than those, Minnesota went stride for stride with the NBA’s top team.

“If I had to pick a team right now that would have a better chance at getting out of the west, I’d pick Houston”. So far, all eyes are on the Toronto Raptors with 5/4 betting odds over the Philadelphia 76ers to win the Eastern Conference. Despite only playing four games, Rajon Rondo still leads the playoffs in total assists with 53 (13.3 per game).

Another round of Game 5s was on the docket on this attractive NBA Wednesday. Harden can torch defenders from deep when they dive under screens, he can drive past them when they go over, and his vision and passing add another element of danger no matter the coverage.