Minnesota Timberwolves vs Houston Rockets Box Score on Apr 25, 2018

Harden scored 15 of his 24 points in the third quarter and added 12 assists on the night. Capela capped a strong series with 26 points and 15 rebounds.

All five Houston starters scored in double figures while Eric Gordon chipped in 19 points off the bench. The top-seeded Rockets will await the winner of the Utah-Oklahoma City series, which the Jazz lead 3-2 heading back to Salt Lake City.

Trevor Ariza added 16 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting, and P.J. Tucker made 5 of 7 3-point attempts and posted 15 points. Chris Paul missed all eight of his 3-point tries but added 12 points and nine assists. After missing 15 of 23 from beyond the arc in the first half, Houston shot 10 of 21 from long distance in the second half.

Harden said of dominating the third quarter for a second consecutive game: "Just being a little bit more aggressive with my shot. In the first half tonight I wasn't really aggressive. I missed a couple layups, but I knew that Minnesota wasn't just going to go away. We had to make sure that we did the right things in order to put them away.

"Offensively we were aggressive, defensively we were active. They only had 15 points in that third quarter. As much as we talk about our offense, defensively we picked it up and that led to easy transition threes and layups and things like that. Credit our defense."

Perhaps the most decisive moment occurred with 4:09 to go in the third quarter, when Ariza burying a corner 3-pointer after Capela corralled a pair of offensive rebounds to extend the possession. The Rockets grabbed their first double-digit lead of the game at 78-68 and never looked back.

Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said of Capela's performance, "Well tonight, I thought it was incredible. His thrust and force and rebounding, what he did and the stamina. He played 33 minutes, there was no dip at all. He was incredible tonight, I thought. You don't get much better than that."

The Rockets outscored the Timberwolves 30-15 in the third quarter.

Timberwolves All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns finally controlled in the post when the Rockets switched smaller defenders on him, posting 23 points and 14 rebounds. Jamal Crawford (20 points) and Derrick Rose combined to score 32 off the bench, but Andrew Wiggins (14 points) and Jimmy Butler totaled only 22 on 9-for-24 shooting for the Timberwolves.

Butler was limited to nine minutes in the second half due to knee soreness.

"We knew it was going to be tough," said Minnesota guard Jeff Teague, who scored 17 points. "We were playing really well, we had a good thing going in the second quarter. It's kind of been like that for us all year with the ups and downs with injuries. It happens. It's part of the game."

That Minnesota failed to fully take advantage of Harden and Paul combining to shoot 3 of 16 in the first half proved pivotal. For lengthy stretches prior to the intermission, the Timberwolves got what they wanted defensively, as they shot a robust 54.8 percent in the first half. They outpaced the Rockets in the paint 28-20 and nailed 7 of 11 3-point attempts before the break.

However, the Rockets relied on their role players until Harden and Paul got going. Ariza and Capela scored 13 points apiece in the first half while Gordon added 12 off the bench. Minnesota led by as many as 10 points, but the Rockets cut the deficit to 59-55 by halftime, setting the stage for their starting backcourt to find its rhythm and carry the Rockets into the West semifinals.

Towns said of the Timberwolves' season, "You learn a lot, especially going through the experiences we had to go through this year. This is an experience that needed to be garnered if we want to take that next step. We came up short tonight, but we're very confident in ourselves for next year."

--Field Level Media