James Harden, Clint Capela Lead Rockets To 104-101 Game 1 Win Vs. Timberwolves [VIDEO]

James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets (Image: Getty)

James Harden and Clint Capela put on impressive performances on Sunday night to lift the Houston Rockets to a 104-101 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the NBA playoffs.

Rockets vs. Timberwolves NBA Playoffs Game 1 Score

Harden finished with 44 points, including 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range, and Capela added some big dunks in the first half en route to the win. Capela had 24 points and 12 rebounds.

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Top-seeded Houston faced a tough challenge from eighth-seeded Minnesota. Strangely enough, the Rockets — who broke its own record for most 3s scored in a season — struggled on 3-point attempts on Sunday.

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Chris Paul, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza and P.J. Tucker combined to complete only 3 of their 22 attempts.

“We’ve had games like this throughout the season and the biggest thing that I’ve learned, that I think our teams knows is that we don’t stop shooting,” Paul told USA Today. “We still take the shots that we get and coming into Game 2 guess what? We’re going to shoot them again because we have that confidence.”

The Timberwolves have reached the postseason for the first time since 2004.

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Minnesota got the first nine points after halftime to gain a 56-54 lead. After a 3-pointer from Tucker, the Wolves went on a 6-1 run to get ahead again 62-58.

With about four minutes to go, the Rockets used a 9-0 run (seven of those points from Harden) to go up 94-86, and then Minnesota called a timeout. Jeff Teague made a pair of free throws for the Wolves after the timeout.

Paul made a strange mistake just moments before the final buzzer. With 8.7 seconds remaining, he tossed a pass out of bounds.

Houston defeated Minnesota 4-0 in their regular-season series, and won each game by an average of 15.8 points. The Rockets led 54-47 at the half on Sunday. Houston’s Ryan Anderson missed the contest with a sprained left ankle. Coach Mike D’Antoni said Anderson’s status for Game 2 remains uncertain.

Game 2 is set for Wednesday in Houston at 9:30pm EST.

Pablo Mena

Writer and assistant editor for usports.org. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.