HOUSTON (AP) — Pushed the the brink of elimination, the Houston Rockets delivered a playoff gem Wednesday night to beat the Golden State Warriors and keep their season alive.
Fred VanVleet scored 26 points, Amen Thompson added 25 and the Rockets extended their first-round playoff series with a 131-116 rout in Game 5.
Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr threw in the towel early in this one with the game out of hand. A layup by VanVleet midway through the third quarter made it 93-64, and Kerr called timeout and cleared his bench.
Houston coach Ime Udoka followed suit with about a minute to go in the third and his team up 105-76. He put all his starters back in with about eight minutes left after Golden State cut the lead to 109-92.
Dillon Brooks added 24 points on a night when all five Houston starters scored in double figures.
TIMBERWOLVES 103, LAKERS 96
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rudy Gobert had playoff career highs with 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and Minnesota advanced in the NBA playoffs with a victory over Los Angeles in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Anthony Edwards had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who won three straight games to eliminate LeBron James and Luka Doncic from their first postseason together.
After winning a playoff round in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, Minnesota next faces the winner of Houston’s series with Golden State. The Rockets avoided elimination Wednesday, and Game 6 is Friday with the Warriors leading 3-2.
Doncic had 28 points and nine assists, while James added 22 points for the Lakers, who lost in the first round for the second straight postseason despite reconfiguring their roster at midseason with their seismic trade for Doncic.
