The Houston Rockets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-101 Sunday night at the Toyota Center in the first game of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The Timberwolves certainly had their chances to score an upset, including a lead halfway through the fourth quarter, but James Harden scored seven straight points at a pivotal point down the stretch to lead Houston to the win.

Jimmy Butler had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but saw his three-pointer come up short as the final buzzer sounded. Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points for Minnesota, while Derrick Rose added 16 points off the bench.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored just eight points for the Wolves in the loss, but did pull down 12 rebounds. Harden scored 44 points to lead the Rockets in the win.

The Timberwolves will play at Houston for game two of the series on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. on AM 1390 KXSS.

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