National Basketball Association
Houston 114, Minnesota 112
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, December 5, 2014
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
#62 Dedric Taylor, #33 Sean Corbin, #14 Ed Malloy
Attendance:
12101
By SportsDirect Inc.
Rockets 114, Timberwolves 112 (OT): Nick Johnson's layup with eight-tenths of a second remaining was the difference as visiting Houston outlasted Minnesota for its third straight win.
James Harden led the way with a season-high 38 points while Jason Terry added 19 for the Rockets, who improved to 8-1 on the road. Trevor Ariza added 17 points and nine rebounds while Donatas Motiejunas chipped in 13 points - including the game-tying free throws with 15 seconds left in regulation - for Houston, which went 26-of-31 from the foul line.
Shabazz Muhammad led the way with 20 points off the bench while Thaddeus Young tallied 19 for the Timberwolves, who erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Zach LaVine scored 17 points while Corey Brewer collected 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Minnesota, who finished 19-of-27 from the charity stripe.
Harden scored eight points during a 15-2 surge to put the Rockets on top 70-61 as he and Ariza combined for 20 of Houston's 28 points in the third quarter. Minnesota trailed by 13 with 5:26 remaining when LaVine sparked an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 96-94, and Andrew Wiggins' driving layup gave the Timberwolves their first lead of the fourth quarter at 101-99.
Wiggins brought the house down with a dunk to put Minnesota in front 105-101 before Motiejunas scored four straight points to send the game to overtime after Chase Budinger missed a game-winning jumper in the final seconds. Young knocked down a clutch jumper to even the score at 112 before Johnson's layup barely beat the buzzer to hand the Rockets their sixth win in their last seven games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rockets have downed the Timberwolves in seven of their last eight meetings. … Harden went 13-of-14 from the foul line and is 38-of-41 in his last four outings. … Minnesota PG Mo Williams was inactive due to back spasms.
Top Game Performances
Houston |
|
Minnesota |
James Harden 38 |
Scoring |
Shabazz Muhammad 20 |
James Harden 6 |
Assists |
Corey Brewer 6 |
Trevor Ariza 9 |
Rebounds |
Corey Brewer 7 |
James Harden 13 |
Free Throws Made |
Corey Brewer 4 |
Trevor Ariza 1 |
Steals |
Gorgui Dieng 3 |
Joey Dorsey 2 |
Blocks |
Corey Brewer 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Houston
|
114 |
48.7 |
12-32 |
26-31 |
19 |
42 |
3 |
3 |
23 |
Minnesota
|
112 |
46.4 |
3-10 |
19-27 |
23 |
43 |
5 |
12 |
14 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against San Antonio. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .308 after a loss.
-
Houston will play their next game at home against Phoenix. The Rockets have a W/L % of .800 after a win and .750 after a loss.