It’s all over for the Minnesota Timberwolves after Wednesday’s 122-104 loss in Game 5 to the Houston Rockets.
Minnesota’s halftime lead was wiped out when Houston outscored them by 15 points in the third quarter, which was only half as bad as the 30 points the Rockets outscored Minnesota by in the third quarter of Game 4.
Jimmy Butler exited the game when the Wolves were trailing by 11 points with 2:33 left in the third. He did not play the entire fourth quarter, sitting on the bench with his surgically repaired right knee wrapped in ice.
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“He just said it was sore,” Minnesota had coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We wanted to use caution.”
Butler wasn’t asked about his knee during a postgame media session and he declined comment when asked while he left the locker room, according to ESPN.
ESPN adds that Butler almost missed Game 1 of the series due to a wrist injury he suffered in the regular season finale and he was further banged up when he twisted his ankle in Game 3.
Butler averaged 15.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the series.
