NBA PLAYOFFS

Fred Faour: 5 thoughts on the Rockets Game 4 win over the Wolves

Fred Faour: 5 thoughts on the Rockets Game 4 win over the Wolves
James Harden brought his offense in the third quarter. Kevin C. Cox

The Rockets took a 3-1 lead with an easy 119-100 win over Minnesota. Here are five thoughts on Monday’s game:

  1. Defense! Defense! The Rockets locked down on the Wolves in the second half. They blocked passing lanes. They took away everything the Wolves were doing right and turned the fourth quarter into garbage time.

  2. Oh, Harden. The MVP went nuts in the third quarter, blowing the game open with 22 points en route to a 36-point game. He sparked a 50-point third quarter.

  3. Chris Paul did not suck. The Rockets had both of their stars playing well, and it made all the difference. He finished with 25 points, 6 assists and 5 steals.

  4. Remember all the panic? Oh, the Rockets aren’t playing well. They could be down 2-1. Bleep that. They will close out the Wolves in five and move on. Nothing will matter until they face Golden State, but they took care of business.

  5. Flash Gordon: Eric Gordon finally had a good game off the bench. The Rockets played well, but not outstanding. And they crushed the Wolves. Despite a meaningless fourth-quarter surge by Minnesota, Houston coasted. Gordon finished with 18 off the pine. With Harden and Paul crushing, this game was over. The Rockets shot over 43 percent from the field, and just over 37 percent on 3s.

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The Astros beat the Phillies, 2-1. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Cam Smith hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Houston Astros a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The rookie's second hit of the game came off Orion Kerkering (5-3) and gave the Astros their fourth straight win.

Brandon Marsh tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the top of the inning to end the Phillies' 26-inning scoreless streak.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead on Yainer Diaz’s RBI single in the second inning. They only managed three more hits off Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez, who struck out 11 with zero walks over six innings. Sanchez has not issued a walk in three straight starts.

Hunter Brown lowered his league best ERA to 1.74 by scattering three singles over seven shutout innings, with nine strikeouts. He did not allow a runner to reach second base.

Bryan Abreu (3-3) struck out Trea Turner to end the eighth, and then struck out Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos in the ninth.

Abreu joined Julia Morales after the game and talked about his impressive performance!

Rafael Marchán had two of the Phillies' four hits. Bryson Stott reached base twice and scored the Phillies' lone run.

Key moment

Smith’s RBI.

Key stat

Brown’s 1.74 ERA is the fourth best in Astros history through 16 starts and the best since Justin Verlander posted a 1.60 ERA through 16 starts in 2018.

Up next

The Astros open a three-game series against the Cubs on Friday with LHP Brandon Walter (0-1 3.80 ERA) on the mound.

The Phillies open a three-game series at the Braves on Friday with RHP Mick Abel (2-1 3.47 ERA) against Atlanta RHP Bryce Elder (2-4 4.77).

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