Behind James Harden’s triple-double, the Houston Rockets (38-18) beat the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-43) Monday night, 113-102.
Harden was able to turn in his second triple-double of the season and led Houston to a scrappy victory over the now competitive Timberwolves squad. Minnesota managed to cut the Rockets lead to one point with under four minutes to play, but Harden and company were too much to handle down the stretch.
Harden’s 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists filled up the stat sheet, but Houston was able to get quality production from Terrence Jones, Josh Smith, and Trevor Ariza as well. Jones posted a modest 15 points but was able to snag a team leading 15 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive end. Josh Smith chipped in 17 points, and Trevor Ariza had 10 points, eight rebounds, and four steals for Houston.
The Timberwolves received a 30-point effort from rookie phenom Andrew Wiggins, but the team simply couldn’t overcome a plethora of mistakes. Despite out-rebounding the Rockets, 58-56, Minnesota lost the points in the paint battle by 16 points. A 20-turnover performance, including six from Kevin Martin, did not help the cause either. Minnesota also failed to capitalize on opportunities and shot just 33 percent from the floor. Houston didn’t shoot lights out by any means, but their 41 percent gave them just enough to win the ball game.
Harden wasn’t the only player flirting with a triple-double tonight, as Ricky Rubio posted 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Rubio returning from injury, along with Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin, has been a key to Minnesota’s mid-season surge that has seen them win four of their last seven games. Martin scored 21 points Monday, and Pekovic put in 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a losing effort.
Another contributor for Minnesota included rookie Adreian Payne, who was acquired via trade two weeks ago. The former Michigan State Spartan posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, much to the delight of coach Flip Saunders who saw two other youthful contributors go down with injuries earlier this week. Shabazz Muhammad, who played in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend, is out for the year after needing surgery on his finger. Anthony Bennett is also sidelined for Minnesota, but is expected back in a couple of weeks.
A story that won’t make the headlines was Corey Brewer facing his old team for the first time since being traded to the Rockets in December. Brewer stated before the game that playing Minnesota meant a little bit more for him. He put up 11 points and six rebounds, but turned the ball over five times against his former teammates.
Both of these teams will resume action on Wednesday. Houston will look to add to their two-game winning streak against the Clippers at home, while Minnesota welcomes back the leading scorer in franchise history, Kevin Garnett, against the Wizards in Minneapolis.