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14	August 2018

Subban started in goal instead.

Trailing by 1 in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves Jamal Adams Jersey , the Houston Rockets needed someone to step up.

No surprise that it was James Harden who came through.

Harden scored 44 points and powered a big fourth-quarter run that allowed the Rockets to outlast the Timberwolves 104-101 Sunday night in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.

�We were struggling to make shots, struggling to really have any kind of rhythm and James put us on his back,� coach Mike D�Antoni said. �He�s been doing it for a while now.�

Minnesota scored four straight points to get within 3 with about 30 seconds left. Chris Paul added two free throws after that for Houston, but a tip-in by Karl-Anthony Towns got Minnesota back within 3. After a bad pass by Paul gave the Timberwolves a chance to tie it with 1.5 seconds left, Jimmy Butler�s shot was short.

�Came up short,� Butler said. �But I�d shoot it again if I had the opportunity.�

The Timberwolves had a one-point lead with about seven minutes left when Houston used a 9-0 run, with the last seven points from Harden, to make it 94-86 with about four minutes to go. Harden, who also had a steal in that span, capped the run with a 3-pointer that prompted Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau to call a timeout.

Jeff Teague ended Minnesota�s scoring drought with two free throws after the timeout and added a 3-point play after a basket by Harden. Harden made another shot to give him 11 straight points for Houston before another basket by Teague.

Harden got Capela in on the scoring after that, finding him for an alley-oop that pushed the lead to 101-93 with less than three minutes left.

�Honestly I was just trying to be aggressive and make the right play Lawrence Taylor Jersey Youth ,� Harden said. �I think if you have that aggressive mindset, good things will happen.�

The top-seeded Rockets had their hands full with the No. 8 Timberwolves on a night where Houston made just 10 of 37 3-pointers. Harden shot 7 for 12 on 3-pointers, but Trevor Ariza, P.J. Tucker, Eric Gordon and Paul combined to make just 3 of their 22 tries.

�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 said. �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.�

Houston kept All-Star big man Towns in check, limiting him to just eight points after he�d averaged 21.3 in leading the Wolves to their first playoff appearance since 2004. Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points to lead Minnesota.

Thibodeau said the Rockets did a good job of switching on Towns and using double-teams to slow him down, but admitted he has to do more.

�He�s got to be more active,� Thibodeau said.

Said Towns: �I�ve got to be better all-around.�

The Wolves scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 56-54 lead. Tucker made a 3 for the Rockets after that, but Minnesota used a 6-1 spurt Authentic Tarik Cohen Jersey , with 3s from Wiggins and Teague, to go back on top 62-58.

The Rockets had managed just six points in the quarter when Gerald Green made a basket with to cut the lead to 1 with about five minutes left in the third. Derrick Rose added a bucket seconds later, but Houston scored six straight points after that to put Houston up 68-65. Harden got things going when he made a 3-pointer while being fouled by Rose and also made the free throw.

Minnesota led by a basket after a jump shot by Towns with about two minutes left in the quarter. Harden took over after that, scoring the last six points of the quarter to leave Houston up 76-72 entering the fourth.

Harden hit a 3-pointer before making a driving layup he was fouled on by Gorgui Dieng. Harden flexed each bicep twice while peering down at the muscles after the shot before making the free throw.

The Rockets swept the regular-season series 4-0, winning by an average of 15.8 points a game and it looked like this one might be another blowout early as the Rockets raced out to a 17-6 lead behind 10 early points from Clint Capela. But the Timberwolves got going after that and had tied it up by late in the first quarter.

The Rockets led 54-47 at halftime.

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: Butler, who led the team by averaging 22.2 points in the regular season, finished with 13 points. � The Wolves made 8 of 23 3-point attempts. � Towns had 12 rebounds and two assists.

Rockets: Ryan Anderson missed the game with a sprained left ankle. D�Antoni said there was a chance he could return for Game 2, but that he would know more in the next couple of days. � Capela had 20 points and 10 rebounds at halftime, but was limited in the second half and added just four more points and two rebounds.

THEY SAID IT

Paul on tying a season-high with six turnovers: �I think the worst thing was the turnovers. I feel like I was with the Bad News Bears.�

BLOCK PARTY

The Rockets finished with eight blocks on Sunday, led by three from Capela. The Rockets were 17-0 in the regular season when they had seven or more blocks.

UP NEXT

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston.

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CALGARY, Alberta � The Vegas Golden Knights bring their astonishing Adidas Ryan McDonagh Jersey , record-breaking inaugural regular season to a close Saturday in Calgary.

The host Flames, meanwhile, drag themselves to the finish line of a disappointing 82-game schedule that likely will bring some changes to the organization in the offseason.

The Knights (51-23-7) look to get back on track against the Flames (36-35-10) at the Saddledome after seeing their three-game winning streak end in a 4-3 loss to Edmonton on Thursday.

�We�ve been pretty good as of late,� Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb told reporters in Edmonton. �We�ve had a couple of stretches where we�ve had breakdowns, but that�s hockey. It happened, we have to keep building. We have one more left and we�ll keep building for Game 1 of the playoffs.�

It was against the Flames back on Feb. 21 that the Golden Knights established an NHL record for most points by an expansion team with 84.

Now with the regular season coming to an end the Golden Knights find themselves reveling in a Pacific Division title in their first year with 109 points heading into Saturday. They await the end of the weekend to find out which team they will host in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Flames have won just four of their past 18 games and one of their past 10 to fall out of playoff contention, and as of Sunday morning talk will not be of the playoffs but of the future of second-year coach Glen Gulutzan and others. General manager Brad Treviling wouldn�t discuss whether Saturday�s game will be Gulutzan�s last behind the bench when questioned earlier this week by Postmedia. He is expected to face the media on Monday.

�I�m not getting into any of that,� he said. �That�s an easy thing in sports to do � the first thing is to look at the coach. I think we�ve got a good coach.

�We�ve got some good players, but we�re all subject to scrutiny when a season goes like this.�

The elimination from contention means the Flames have been getting some NHL playing time to some youngsters, including U.S. college grad Spencer Woo, who had 20 goals in the American Hockey League in his rookie professional season. He tallied his first NHL goal in Thursday�s loss to the Winnipeg Jets and has impressed observers with his play.

�You never really know how it�s going to go until you get up here Saquon Barkley Jersey Youth ,� Foo told Postmedia. �But once you settle into a game and you realize that you can play here, you can still make plays and still find ways to get scoring chances; that feels pretty good.�

The Golden Knights will rest some of their regulars Saturday in a meaningless tilt. Head coach Gerard Gallant gave starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury the night off in Edmonton on Thursday, and Malcolm Subban started in goal instead.

�We�re making sure Fleury�s ready to go; he�s our No. 1 guy,� Gallant told reporters in Edmonton.

The Golden Knights gave defenseman Zach Whitecloud of Brandon, Manitoba, his NHL debut in Edmonton, and he�ll likely play again Saturday. He signed after finishing the season with Bemidji State on March 8.

�You can�t be out of character (when you get to the NHL). That�s the biggest thing is be someone you�re not and I�m not going to do that,� he told reporters. �I�m going to do my best to be responsible and help the team win.�

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