The Houston Rockets are averaging 103.7 points per game in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That’s 9.7 points less per game than the 112.4 they averaged during the regular season.
Houston is shooting 42.7 percent from the field in the series, 3.3 percent lower than their regular-season mark. And finally, Houston is shooting 31.5 percent from the 3-point line, down 4.7 percent.
The Wolves are coming off a 121-105 win over Houston on Saturday night, putting the series at 2-1 favoring Houston as we go into Monday’s Game 4 at Target Center.
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau, not one to reflect too long or look ahead too far, noted that his team has to play even better moving forward.
“That’s how you win in this league,” Thibodeau said after the game. “They’re a great team. We’re going to have to play better on Monday, and I think we’re capable of playing better. We’re learning more each day, each day we learn, we improve. We know we can’t feel too good about ourselves.”
Thibodeau credits Minnesota’s defensive surge with how the season ended. Minnesota needed to win three-straight games (five out of seven) to finally clinch a playoff spot on the last night of the season. That intensity hasn’t gone anywhere.
“I think down the stretch we learned a lot,” Thibodeau said. “Those were all hard-fought games. Those were all like playoffs game. I think we learned from that. I think we have a long ways to go, but you’re starting to see the growth. This is as good as an offensive team you’re going to see in this league.”
It’s not going to be easy to keep this up against a team led by James Harden and Chris Paul, plus a plethora of great shooters, but the series could easily be 2-1 benefitting the Wolves after a three-point loss in Game 1.
Minnesota has been getting great defensive effort from everyone, most notably wings Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins.
The Rockets are going to come out with more energy in Game 4, and it’s crucial the Wolves match it if they want to tie the series up in front of a Target Center crowd that was absolutely electric in Game 3.
Tipoff on Monday night is set for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports North, TNT and 102.9 Buz’n FM.