NBA Playoffs 2018: Houston Rockets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Game 3 live stream

As a team, the Rockets shot 45 percent from the field and 15 of 41 from the three-point line but they let themselves down defensively, particularly in the second half where they were outscored by 69-54.

Butler, the Wolves’ top defender, finished with a team-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting and knocked down 4-of-6 three-point attempts as the Wolves’ equaled the Rockets’ 15 three-pointers, one game after Minnesota only made five three-point shots. The Wolves’-a team known for their good offense and atrocious defense-leading scorer was Nemanja Bjelica who scored 16. “That’s an energy game, and that’s what we’ve got to do”.

Aldrich grew up in nearby Bloomington, Minnesota, and was a teenager in 2004 when the Timberwolves – coached by another Minnesota native in Flip Saunders and featuring the star trio of Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell – made the best playoff run in franchise history. But Teague countered by pointing out the Wolves also have no previous experience overcoming offensive struggles. The Timberwolves had no chance to win Game 2 on Wednesday, proving again that an early lead in the National Basketball Association means very little.

Bench battle – In Game 1, the Timberwolves got a combined 31 points out of their two veteran bench guards, Derrick Rose and Jamal Crawford. “We’ve just got to get a rhythm. And just get their defense shifted a little bit”. He has pushed for such a style all season, to no avail. The Rockets are averaging 106 points per 100 possessions during the first-round series, a mediocre number.

“What we’ve been playing like hasn’t worked”, Teague said. He played just 22 minutes in Game 2 before fouling out.

“We’ve kind of like traded off, right?”

As for the T-Wolves, it’s hard to know which players to trust from a fantasy perspective.

The switch-heavy Rockets have double-teamed Towns to a stifling effect, and the Timberwolves sure haven’t helped their 7-footer out by getting him the ball in favorable situations in the post. Houston now has to regroup and get on track to avoid heading back to Houston tied at two games apiece.

Only once in that time did the team get out of the first round, advancing to the Western Conference finals in 2004. It wasn’t pretty, or effective. Obviously, though, the soon-to-be-MVP likely will not be as bad for a second-straight game.

The Wolves only committed 10 turnovers the rest of the game – far from ideal, but at least a lot of them were forced by solid Houston defense; James Harden and Chris Paul finished the game with three steals apiece.

“I’d say [the past] couple months we haven’t played really well”, D’Antoni said Sunday, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.