Minnesota’s slow-to-develop [url=http://www.raiderscheapstore.com/e.-j.-manuel-jersey-cheap]E. J. Manuel Jersey[/url] , up-and-down defense has finally started to shine, against this high-octane Houston team no less.

There’s been no wait quite like the one for a win by the Timberwolves in the playoffs, though.

Jimmy Butler hit four 3-pointers among his 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns snapped back from a bad start to the series with 18 points and 16 rebounds, leading the Timberwolves past the Rockets 121-105 in Game 3 on Saturday night for their first postseason victory in 14 years.

”This city deserves being in the playoffs a little bit longer,” Butler said. ”We’ll see what we have. But as long as we guard, as long as we defend, we’ll put ourselves in a good enough position to win.”

Jeff Teague scored 23 points and Andrew Wiggins pitched in 20 points with another four 3-pointers, helping the Timberwolves match the NBA’s best 3-point shooting team with 15 makes apiece from long range. Minnesota took 27; Houston launched 41.

”I tell everybody all the time, as long as you’re in rhythm, no matter if somebody’s in front of you or not, it’s a good shot for you because we think that you can make that,” Butler said after the Wolves shot 50 percent overall from the floor.

Not to be left out was Derrick Rose and his 17 points off the bench, including 10 points in nine minutes before halftime. The Wolves closed the third quarter with a 26-14 run and produced spurts of 15-3 and 11-2 in the final period, perfecting their plan to play at a faster pace.

”We’ve got to do a better job of imposing our will at the beginning of the game,” said James Harden, who led the Rockets with 29 points.

The Rockets made four 3-pointers on their last seven possessions of the first half to turn an 11-point deficit to just one in less than 3 1/2 minutes up until the break. Butler twisted his left ankle during that stretch, causing him to clutch his foot in pain and create some brief anxiety in the arena, but he didn’t require [url=http://www.chargerscheapstore.com/drew-kaser-jersey-cheap]Drew Kaser Jersey[/url] , or at least accept, any medical attention. There was no hint that he was hurt in the second half.

”He’s the heart and soul,” said Teague, who made three 3-pointers himself. ”When he’s out there competing, it rubs off on everybody.”

Taj Gibson hounded Harden and forced an airballed 3-pointer, prompting the apex of the noise throughout the night with the Wolves ahead 77-70. Towns powered his way past Ryan Anderson for a layup and a three-point play with 1:57 left in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 10 points, and he flexed his biceps to the crowd after the whistle as he walked like King Kong to the corner of the court in celebration. There was no letdown in the fourth quarter, either.

”Give them a lot of credit. A lot of their 3s were butt naked, too. We were giving them uncontested 3s, and you know we’ve got to be better,” said Chris Paul, who fouled out with 17 points.

For the first time since May 29, 2004, the fifth game of the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA playoffs descended on downtown Minneapolis. The shine of this long-awaited return to relevance by the 29-year-old franchise was dulled a bit by the team’s fade down the stretch to finish eighth in the conference and draw the most daunting matchup available against a Rockets team that won all four regular season games by an average of 16 points and took the first two games of this series in Houston.

The occasion was still plenty special, though, with the memory of late coach and executive Flip Saunders not far from the minds of the Target Center regulars [url=http://www.raiderscheapstore.com/martavis-bryant-jersey-cheap]Martavis Bryant Jersey[/url] , and the sellout crowd matched the moment to make the arena louder than it had been all season.

”It was crazy. All the fans were in the game the whole time,” Wiggins said. ”They helped us gain momentum going forward.”

HARD FOR HARDEN

Harden, who had 44 points in Game 1 but lost his rainbow jumper in Game 2 and finished only 2 for 18 from the floor for 12 points, wasn’t a whole lot sharper in Game 3. He went 9 for 21, including 3 for 8 from 3-point range.

”We stooped to their level, playing slow,” said Rockets sixth man Eric Gordon, who went 5 for 16 from the floor. ”We didn’t create.”

GOING TO TOWNS

After totaling only 13 points over the first two games, Towns was constantly double-teamed by the Rockets and didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter. The 7-footer’s energy got going soon after that, though, with an emphatic dunk on Clint Capela after peeling away from the post-up to snag a high pass from Teague.

”You let the game tell you what to happen,” Towns said. ”Just trying to find different ways to score.”

TIP-INS

Rockets: Anderson was in action for the first time in seven games due to a sprained left ankle and had with 12 points. Houston was 18-1 during the regular season when he made at least three 3-point shots. … The Rockets lost for only the fourth time in 48 games this season with Harden, Paul and Capela all on the floor.

Timberwolves: Minnesota had 29 assists on 45 made field goals, with only seven turnovers. … Rose has 42 points in the series on 19-for-39 shooting in 62 minutes. … The Wolves beat the Rockets for just the third time in their last 23 meetings. … This was the second-most made 3-pointers of the season for Minnesota.

UP NEXT

Game 4 is on Monday night at 8 p.m. EDT.

—

The Minnesota Wild made sure the bad news didn’t defeat them.

Their season-ending road trip sure feels a little lighter now, with a spot in the playoffs secure.

Zach Parise scored twice and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves to blank his original team, pushing the Wild past the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Monday night.

”I hope it makes them feel good about themselves,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”I thought our defense was good.”

With 98 points, matching the fourth-most in franchise history [url=http://www.ravenscheapstores.com/brandon-carr-jersey-cheap]Brandon Carr Jersey[/url] , the Wild did their part. Then Los Angeles chipped in with a victory about 2 1/2 hours later over Colorado that took the pressure off Minnesota’s last three games, at Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. The Wild are nearly locked into third place in the Central Division and a first-round matchup with Winnipeg.

”I don’t know how all this math works out,” Boudreau said, before leaving the arena to watch the conclusion of the Avalanche-Kings game at home. ”I just wake up in the morning and hope to see an `X’ by the name.”

Playing for the first time in nearly three years without stalwart defenseman Ryan Suter, the Wild wrapped up their home schedule with a staggering 21-3 shots advantage in the third period. Joel Eriksson Ek added an empty-net goal as the Wild finished 27-6-8 at Xcel Energy Center, the second-best home record in the league.

With rookies Nick Seeler and Carson Soucy, in his NHL debut no less, playing key roles on the blue line, the Wild put together a postseason-caliber performance.

”You need different people to step up and do important things, and that’s going to be the case for us,” Dubnyk said. ”That was a good look.”

Cam Talbot made 37 saves for the Oilers, who lost their fifth straight game and ensured a sub-80-point finish for the eighth time in the last nine years.

”The finish line is non-rewarding. You fall behind, you feel like you don’t get a break, you miss a net or something like that, it takes a little bit more out of you,” coach Todd McLellan said. ”We should be more resilient. We’re not right now.”

Parise has been a big part of the push. The Wild are 24-9-7 with him in the lineup, after he missed the first 39 games of the season recovering from back surgery. Playing next to Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund has given him a clear boost.

”As a group [url=http://www.patriotscheapstore.com/duke-dawson-jersey-cheap]Duke Dawson Jersey[/url] , we’re meshing really well together,” Parise said.

The Wild scored the first goal for the first time in seven games, when Parise snagged a bouncing puck at his own blue line that Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson was struggling to control with his skates and broke loose on an unabated path to the net. He snapped a shot though Talbot’s pads just 3:33 into the contest.

Dubnyk then went to work on his fifth shutout of the season, making some difficult saves, including a denial of NHL points leader Connor McDavid’s attempt with his right leg.

Parise provided some padding when he swooped into position to knock in a rebound of Jonas Brodin’s attempt before the midpoint of the second period.

Making the 400th start of his NHL career against the club that drafted him in the first round in 2004, Dubnyk recorded his 133rd win for the Wild since they acquired him in a trade on Jan. 14, 2015. No goalie in the league has played in more games (230) or pitched more shutouts (20) since then.

Edmonton won the first two meetings with Minnesota this season, with McDavid registering two goals and two assists, but after the breakthrough in 2016-17 the Oilers have tumbled back down the Western Conference standings. They’re 17-23-4 since the Christmas break.

Talbot was pulled at Calgary on Saturday night after only 11 1/2 minutes, after allowing three goals on seven shots, but McLellan stuck with him and was rewarded with his highest save total in nine appearances since he stopped 40 shots at Florida on March 17.

”We definitely had opportunities to make this a good road trip,” said left wing Milan Lucic, ”but we didn’t do it in Vancouver when we had a real good start the way that we did. We didn’t do it in Calgary and once again here.”

NOTES: Parise has at least one point in seven straight games and 12 goals over his last 19 games, the third-most in the league since March 1. … Oilers defensemen Andrej Sekera and Yohann Auvitu were each injured in the second period and didn’t return. … With Suter’s absence, center Eric Staal became the Wild’s new ironman by playing in his 161st consecutive contest. He has not missed a game since joining the team prior to last season.

UP NEXT

Oilers: Host Vegas on Thursday.

Wild: Play at Anaheim on Wednesday.

—

[url=http://www.officialusafootballs.com/pittsburgh-steelers/chukwuma-okorafor-jersey]Womens Chukwuma Okorafor Jersey[/url]