It’s amazing what a 50-point quarter can do for a team. Despite being outscored by 11 in quarters 1, 2, and 4, one good stretch of 12 minutes was enough to shift the narrative from “The Rockets are in a rut” to “The Rockets can outscore anyone.”
Sure, the Rockets may have scored a ton of points and won comfortably, which was definitely helped along by those 50 points. However, it was the return of Houston’s defense that gave Houston a commanding 3-1 lead in their first round series. Once again, Houston asserted its dominance on that end of the court and held the Timberwolves to 100 points just two days after hemorrhaging 121 points to Minnesota.