After dropping Game 3 in Minnesota and playing uneven basketball in the first half of Game 4, the No. 1 seed Houston Rockets seemed to be in a little bit of trouble. Even Mike D’Antoni said that his team hasn’t played well in months.
Well, in the third quarter on Monday night, the Rockets flipped that script completely and took control of their opening round series. Houston scored 50 points in the frame and set a NBA playoff record for most points in a third quarter in the process, according to Basketball-Reference.
The Beard #Rockets his way to 22 in the 3rd as HOU scores 50!#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/HXPhPv6Oh2
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2018
The previous record was held by the 1986-1987 Lakers — led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy — who scored 49 points in the third quarter of a 125-116 win over Joe Barry Carroll’s Warriors. The record for most points in any playoff quarter is 51, held by the 1961-62 Lakers.
James Harden scored 22 points on his own in the quarter, outscoring the Timberwolves (as a team) 22-20. Just incredible.
