who is slowly bouncing

James Harden had another huge third quarter to propel the Houston Rockets to their latest win Joe Thomas Jersey Youth , and coach Mike D’Antoni wants to know what’s behind those scoring bursts.
”When you do talk to him about it, would you let me know, because I’m dying in the first half. My health is an issue,” D’Antoni said with a laugh.
Clint Capela had 26 points and 15 rebounds, Harden added 24 points and the Rockets pulled away in the third quarter to get another lopsided win and eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 122-104 victory in Game 5 of the first-round series Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Rockets are headed to the second round for the second year in a row after taking care of the eighth-seeded Timberwolves. Minnesota was in the postseason for the first time since 2004.
Houston will await the winner of the Utah-Oklahoma City series, which the Jazz lead 3-2 after the Thunder rallied from a big deficit Wednesday night to avoid elimination.
After scoring 22 points in Houston’s 50-point third quarter in a Game 4 blowout Monday night, Harden poured in half of Houston’s 30 points in the third quarter Wednesday night to put the Rockets up for good. His 15 third-quarter points matched Minnesota’s output in the frame, and he finished with 12 assists.
”I knew that Minnesota wasn’t going to just go away,” he said. ”We had to do the right things to put them away.”
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 20 points off the bench.
”It’s a major jump from where we were two years ago,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. ”We have to take all the things we learned this past season and make a commitment to continue to improve.”
Paul and Harden both raved about the work of Capela, who throughout the series has outshined Towns, an All-Star this season and the top overall pick in 2015.
”He opens up everything for us because he’s such a threat when he rolls to the rim Jamal Adams Jersey Youth ,” Paul said.
Towns believes the experience of his first trip to the postseason will help him moving forward.
”We hadn’t been there in like 14 years so it was experience that needed to be garnered and we wanted to take that next step,” he said. ”We came up short tonight but we’re very confident in ourselves leading up to next year.”
Andrew Wiggins scored the last four points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 85-74 entering the fourth quarter. The Rockets used a 7-2 spurt, highlighted by a 3 from Ryan Anderson, to start the fourth and make it 92-76 with 9 1/2 minutes left.
A basket by Derrick Rose got Minnesota within 14 later in the fourth when Houston went on a 10-4 run to push the lead to 108-88 with less than five minutes to go.
The Wolves got consecutive 3s by Jamal Crawford and Wiggins to cut the lead after that, but the Rockets scored the next five points to end that run and cruise to the victory.
The Rockets opened the second half with a 10-2 run to erase a halftime deficit and take a 65-61 lead with about nine minutes left in the third. Paul, who finished with 12 points and nine assists, had four points in that stretch and Harden and P.J. Tucker added 3-pointers.
Minnesota scored the next five points to go back on top, but Harden scored five quick points after that to leave the Rockets ahead 70-66. Harden, who had just five points at halftime, hit a 3 before throwing down a one-handed dunk over Taj Gibson that prompted Minnesota Thibodeau to call a timeout.
The timeout didn’t do anything to slow Harden and the Rockets, and he added another 3 on Houston’s first possession after the timeout.
Towns added a basket after that before Houston scored the next eight points to extend the lead to 81-68 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
Things got a little testy after that when Crawford pushed Paul to the court and stood over him jawing. Paul got to his feet and got in his face, but the two were quickly separated and Crawford was given an offensive foul and a technical.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Tyus Jones returned after sitting out in Game 4 with a sore knee. … Jimmy Butler had eight points before sitting out the fourth because of a sore knee and Wiggins finished with 14. … Jeff Teague scored 17 and had seven assists.
Rockets: D’Antoni said that Luc Mbah a Moute, who missed the entire first round after dislocating his right shoulder Jamal Adams Jersey , is getting better and will be re-evaluated next week. … Eric Gordon scored 19 points. … Tucker finished with a playoff career-high 15 points.
THREES PLEASE
The Rockets made a series-high 18 3-pointers on Wednesday night. They’ve made at least 15 3-pointers in their last four games, which is tied with Cleveland in 2016 for the longest streak in NBA playoff history. Last season Houston made 15 or more 3-pointers in just three of their 11 playoff games.
UP NEXT
The Rockets will host the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals against the winner of the Jazz-Thunder series.
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Wednesday was already going to be a bullpen day for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Tuesday’s 16-inning, 9-6 victory over the Miami Marlins only adds to that, with one or two Rays relievers expected to be added to help provide fresh arms.
The five-hour, 31-minute marathon further taxed the bullpen for Tampa Bay (43-42), with Matt Andriese expected to start Wednesday in Miami after the teams played extra-inning games in the first two contests of the three-game series.
The Rays, continuing their strategy of using relievers as starters, scrapped a scheduled start by Ryne Stanek for the second day in a row, opting to use him in extra innings Monday and Tuesday instead of opening the following day.
Stanek was originally scheduled to start Tuesday, but came in for the 10th inning Monday night. He walked the first batter and then gave up two hits, taking the loss without recording an out to briefly give himself an infinite ERA for his career against the Marlins.
He was then slated to start Wednesday, but came in and pitched the 12th inning Tuesday night Custom Chicago Bears Jersey , striking out the side to push the game to the 13th inning. He added another scoreless frame, but that took him out of his scheduled role Wednesday, putting more work on an overused bullpen. Nine pitchers were used in Tuesday’s win, requiring at least one roster move just to supply enough live arms to get through Wednesday’s series finale.
Miami used eight pitchers Tuesday, so the Marlins may need to add a reliever for short-term relief as well, under much the same circumstances.
Andriese (1-3, 3.86 ERA) will start two days after he pitched two innings Monday against the Marlins, limiting them to one hit and no runs. That outing came after two straight appearances where he gave up three runs each, raising his season ERA from 3.27 to 4.02.
Andriese will make his fourth start of the season Wednesday, and has handled the Marlins well in his career, with a 1-0 record and 1.69 ERA career appearances against them, including a seven-inning scoreless gem last season.
Miami will start Jose Urena (2-9, 4.40) www.newyorkgiantsteamonline.com/lawrence-taylor-jersey , who is slowly bouncing back from a rough first two months of the season. Urena did not get any wins in his first 12 starts, but is 2-2 since and is just now returning from a stint on the disabled list with right shoulder impingement.
Urena had his best outing of the season two starts ago, going eight scoreless innings and holding Baltimore to three hits while getting the win June 15. He wasn’t as fortunate five days later, lasting 5 2/3 innings and giving up five runs and eight hits in a loss to the Giants.
Urena has never started against the Rays, but carries a 1.59 career ERA in six relief appearances, including five scoreless innings in 2015-16, against Tampa Bay. He pitched well last season, winning 14 games and finishing with a 3.82 ERA.
After this series, the Rays move on to New York for a three-game series with the Mets, while the Marlins go to Washington for a four-game series against the Nationals.
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