Eighth seeds aren’t supposed to beat top seeds.

But, in Game 3 of their opening-round series, the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the Houston Rockets by the score of 121-105.

Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns got the job done for Minnesota, as did Derrick Rose off the bench. Butler had 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Teague dropped 23 points, three rebounds and eight assists while Wiggins had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Towns posted a double-double with 18 points and 16 boards while Rose surprisingly contributed 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting off the bench. It was a well-rounded effort.

Although James Harden rebounded from his atrocious shooting performance in Game 2 with 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, his teammates failed to provide him with much scoring help. Chris Paul fouled out after posting 17 points, three rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes and Eric Gordon went just 5-of-16 shooting for 15 points.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni attributed the loss to a lack of rhythm and made a strong claim in the process.

"I'd say [the past] couple months we haven't played really well," D'Antoni said before Sunday's practice, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. "That's why I was worried the whole time about resting guys, doing this, getting out of rhythm. [People say], 'It doesn't really mean a whole lot.' Ehhhh, it does. … Anyway, we are where we are. We'll be fine. We'll be OK.”

Both Harden and Paul made it clear that their offensive rhythm will be set up by getting stops on the defensive end.

"It's been a long time," Harden said regarding the team’s rhythm. "It's been a long time, but tomorrow is the perfect opportunity for it. … It’s pretty simple: play hard the entire game. … Shots are going to be made, shots are going to be missed, but I think defensively as long as our focus level is there every possession, it doesn't matter about the offense. Defensively, we'll be good enough."

"I guess everything is cool until you lose," Paul noted. "All in all, we've just got to come out tomorrow ready to play and be us. ... It starts on the defensive end. That's when we can get out in transition.”

Houston could also benefit from a strong Game 4 from both of their stars. In Game 1, Harden dominated while Paul struggled. In Game 2, it was the opposite scenario. In Game 3, Harden turned in a strong performance while Paul’s night was cut short due to foul trouble.

"We've kind of like traded off, right?" Harden said. "We've just got to get a rhythm. It's not necessarily just me and Chris. We're good enough to get enough to get our shot going and get our rhythm going at any point in any game. … We’ve just got to make sure we're rallying everybody else around us and making sure that they're in good spirits and always confident in their shot. ... So we're good. We're real good.”

Harden, Paul and the Rockets will look to put Game 3 behind them and increase their series lead to 3-1 in Game 4 on Monday.

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