Despite a horrible shooting display from James Harden, the Houston Rockets secured a routine 102-82 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves to take complete control of their first-round series.The MVP favourite posted 12 points after shooting just 2-of-18 but it didn't have a huge effect as they still managed to take a commanding 2-0 lead.That was largely thanks to his backcourt partner Chris Paul carrying the load on his behalf and stepping up big offensively.CP3 scored 27 points on 10-of-18 from the floor, along with eight assists.It was a total role reversal for the All-Star guards as Paul struggled in game one and Harden picked up the slack by posting 44.But Wednesday night belonged to CP and this performance showed just why they traded for him in the summer.

When Harden struggled to get buckets in the playoffs last season, Houston crumbled but they were confident that wouldn't happen with Paul by his side.

The former Los Angeles Clippers star put on a show and dazzled the Rockets fans with some breathtaking baskets.

His best play came late in the third quarter as he hit an insane, high-looping layup above the outstretched arms of Gorgui Dieng.

He got so much elevation on it but it turned out to be perfect as it beautifully nestled through the hoop.

The 33-year-old wasn't done there with his trickery on the court as he followed it up with another magical bucket in the fourth quarter.

With Timberwolves big man Nemanja Bjelica guarding him out on the perimeter on a mismatch, Paul hit him with a series of dribbles before darting to the rim and finishing with an acrobatic layup.

The veteran bounced back in style back from a disappointing game one performance where he scored just 14 points on 5-of-14 from the field and committed a season-high six turnovers.

"Just tried to push the tempo, tried to be aggressive ... getting into the lane and getting a couple of easy ones early helped us," Paul said after the game, per ESPN.

Harden predicted that his teammate would "come back and drop 30" and revealed how he tried to motivate him coming into the game two clash.

Whatever the shooting guard said certainly helped but now he'll be the one that needs to bounce back in game three and Paul has no doubts that will happen as he doesn't expect this season's scoring champion to struggle again.

"I don't know how many times that's going to happen. Probably never again," Paul said, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "For us, he's going to keep going, he's going to keep going. You give him 18 shots next game and see what happens."

That next game will take place on Saturday night as the series heads to Minnesota for game three.

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