D’Antoni downplays misses
MINNEAPOLIS — It was incredibly simple for guard Eric Gordon: Hit the shots he normally makes.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t notice anything specific about Gordon’s early struggles against the Timberwolves. All it came down to was missing direct looks.
“Hit the open shots,” D’Antoni said prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference first-round series against Minnesota on Monday night at Target Center.
Gordon connected on just 28.2 percent of his field goals and 23.1 percent of his 3-pointers during games 1-3. But the normally sharpshooting sixth man wasn’t the only Rocket off-target.
“We don’t have a lot of guys shooting well,” D’Antoni said. “It’s been that way for a little while. We’ve been uneven.”
The Rockets have mostly gotten the looks they want. Sinking the attempts has been another matter. As has been bringing the same effort on defense that the Rockets attach to their muchdiscussed offense.
“We’ll make ’em,” D’Antoni said. “But, again, don’t worry about the shots. They come and they go.”
Monday, Gordon was 6-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-10 on 3s. The team was 40-for-92 and 16-of-43
Thibodeau uplifts culture
The Timberwolves’ win total increased by 16 games this season, and they were on the verge of earning the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed.
A Game 3 victory over the No. 1 seed Rockets only brought more positive attention to Minnesota’s turnaround, which has been engineered by coach Tom Thibodeau, who also serves as the franchise’s president of basketball operations.
“I’m very proud of our team,” Thibodeau said Monday night prior to Game 4 against the Rockets at Target Center. “One of the things coming here, I knew the challenge that was here. If you lose for 14 years, there’s something dramatically wrong. So you’ve got to change that. And so changing the culture was critical.”
With 22-year-old center Karl-Anthony Towns leading Minnesota’s surge, the Timberwolves then traded last summer for Jimmy Butler, who rejoined his former Chicago coach.
Two years into Thibodeau’s Minnesota tenure, Minnesota has its first playoff victory in 14 seasons.
“I’m proud of how these guys have fought extremely hard to change (the culture),” Thibodeau said.
Taiwan fan has travelin’ shoes
The Rockets might have seemed to take the first round of the playoffs for granted, but it means a lot to one fan.
Meng-Han Yang made the 7,138-mile trek from Taiwan to see his favorite NBA team play for the first time Monday night at the Target Center.
The 23-year-old student at National Taiwan University in Taipei, who became a Rockets fan during the Yao MingTracy McGrady days, said the trip is expensive, “But it’s the playoffs.”
Yang held a sign that read, in part, “Always run as one in Taiwan, but the time is now so I traveled 7138 miles.”
Yang, who is staying with a former high school classmate in Minneapolis, will be in Houston for Game 5 on Wednesday night, then return home Sunday.
“This is my first trip to the United States, and this is a good reason to come,” Yang said. “It will be exciting.”
James Harden tossed both of his shoes to Yang after the game.