2018 NBA Playoffs: Grading each first round playoff series 

Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves: C-

Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns

The Wolves entered this season with the real possibility of nabbing the 3rd or 4th seed in the Western Conference standings. Injury to Jimmy Butler put paid to those hopes late in the season, and the Wolves got through to the playoffs in their very last game of the season - only to run into the red-hot Houston Rockets in the first round.

They hung with the Rockets for the better part of game 1 and managed to win game 3 on their home court. But they failed to get any sort of a rhythm going. Jeff Teague struggled to get going, while Tyus Jones' offensive inadequacies required coach Tom Thibodeau to plug Derrick Rose into a prominent role.

Mike D'Antoni has been the better coach of the two all through their careers, and his team played modern NBA basketball. Thibodeau, a coach who'd be much better in the grit-and-grind 90s era, had no answer for the telling questions the Rockets offense posed to him.

Thibs' offensive schemes put the skills of Karl-Anthony Towns and Taj Gibson to limited use. The Rockets' exceptional defending of Jimmy Butler caused the All-Star guard to turn in one of his more forgettable postseason outings.

Towns averaged 6 points lower than his regular season average while attempting fewer shots, while the inability of Thibs to put Gibson's excellent post play meant that the former Bull also had a down series.

The Wolves' offense was an eyesore of the worst kind, and coach Thibodeau has to take most of the blame for their pedestrian showing. It is quite possible that a coach with a modern mindset would have put the talents at his hand to better use.

The gulf in class between the two sides was best exemplified by Harden, who should be the MVP barring daylight robbery by the journalists associated with the league. Harden barely broke a sweat in most games, and despite having a sub-par Game 2, he still managed to average 29 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game in a gentleman's sweep.