Close call ends with huge sigh of relief
After nearly blowing 25-point lead, Harden & Co. avoid a late collapse
MINNEAPOLIS — As problems go, the Rockets’ recent inability to protect enormous leads might be the one they would choose. Better to have an enormous lead and lose it than to never have led at all.
They do tend to make things difficult for themselves or, perhaps, just interesting.
But once again, in a game in which the Rockets seemed at their best when building a commanding lead, they were better when turning
back a comeback.
After letting all but the last five points of a 25-point lead get away, the Rockets took over in the final 3½ minutes, leaving the Timberwolves behind for good on the way to a 129-120 win Sunday night that might have been tougher than seemed necessary but was taken as if the Rockets just needed to feel that late-game pressure.
“It’s good; it’s real good,” Rockets guard James Harden said of finishing a closer-thanexpected win. “We had a team that’s fighting for a
position in the playoffs. They’re going to come back. They’re going to make a run. We held our composure, closed the game out.”
Starting with a Trevor Ariza 3-pointer off a Clint Capela offensive rebound and capped by a Harden 3-pointer with 58.8 seconds remaining nearly identical to his dagger 3 with 90 seconds left the night before in New Orleans, the Rockets took over long enough to hold off a Timberwolves charge.
The Timberwolves had rallied, at first sparked when the Rockets slacked off defensively with the lead, but then when Gorgui Dieng and Gerald Green exchanged shoves that got Green ejected and sent a charge into the Wolves and the home crowd.
Dieng had shoved Chris Paul to the floor after a whistle, with Green retaliating hard, blasting Dieng as if trying to break through a locked door and sending him sprawling into the crowd.
“I’m just trying to be there for my teammate,” Green said. “I saw something happen and I reacted. I paid the consequences for it. Obviously, that’s not something I’m trying to portray myself for. Any time I put myself in a situation I can protect my teammates, I’m going to try to do that. I learned my lesson, got ejected, try not to do that again.”
Green said he did not believe he or Dieng were going to be ejected, but Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, said the officials got it right.
Paul offered more than thanks.
“He didn’t push me that hard,” Paul said. “It was more so unexpected. I told (Green) I appreciate it, and I’ll cover whatever fine.”
With the Target Center rocking, the Timberwolves scored the next six points to complete an 11-0 run that cut the lead to seven.
“We got into it, and that brought more energy into the game,” Dieng said.
Along the way, Harden took a slap in his sore right hand, turning the ball over on consecutive possessions in obvious pain.
But after the timeout, Paul maneuvered to a midrange jumper, Harden drove to a layup and the Rockets seemed to have steadied themselves.
“James and Chris can orchestrate stuff that normal people can’t do,” D’Antoni said. “That’s why they’re that good. Our first half was almost perfect, from Ryan (Anderson) to Gerald Green, Chris and James, Clint. We just played really well. They kept fighting and we kind of let up a little bit.
“It’s human nature. We lost focus. And they kept playing.”
The Timberwolves closed to within five with 3:57 left, but the Rockets would allow them to come no further, scoring on six of the next seven possessions.
Harden finished with 34 points and 12 assists, and Paul recorded 18 points with nine assists and eight rebounds.
They combined to make five of nine shots for 17 points in the fourth quarter as if they were just waiting for the Wolves to make their move.
“We’re figuring it out,” Paul said. “Down the stretch, we do stuff.”
If nothing else, the Rockets got the win, their 22nd in 23 games, pushed their lead on the Warriors to three games and let another home crowd enjoy themselves.
“Sometimes, it’s tough when you get that lead early in the game,” Capela said. “That team is always pushing, especially at home. It was getting interesting.”
But D’Antoni did not have to look hard to find the bright side of building large leads and winning close games.
“Well,” he said, “it’s better than coming back from (down) 20.”