"For much of the night, the Minnesota Timberwolves pounded the Rockets so thoroughly it felt like a stomp in the face.

Still, the Rockets could not be sure without a side-by-side comparison. So after Kevin Love took down Luis Scola on a drive, he looked down, took aim and planted a size-19 as if putting out a cigar on Scola's face as Scola's head bounced off the court.

The Rockets were livid and quickly hit with technical fouls, one after another. But after they got up, they finally fought back. They slowed the Wolves long enough to cut a 16-point lead to three, but by then, they were out of defensive stops as the Timberwolves surged one more time to close out a 100-91 win Saturday night at Target Center."