HOUSTON _ The Timberwolves lost the game and quite possibly their star in Friday's 120-102 defeat at Houston.
Four-time All Star Jimmy Butler was helped off the floor late in the third quarter by teammates after he was unable to put weight on his right leg.
He was injured when he pivoted to take a shot and his right knee gave way without any contact to it with fewer than four minutes left in the third quarter.
He collapsed to the court and soon was surrounded by coach Tom Thibodeau and teammates before Karl-Anthony Towns and Cole Aldrich helped him off the court.
The extent of the injury was not immediately known.
Western Conference coaches selected Butler to play in his fourth All-Star Game last weekend, but opted not to play in the Sunday game because he said his body needed rest and he was completely focused on getting his team to the playoffs in the season's remaining 21 games, which began Friday night against the Rockets.
Houston led 79-68 at the time and without Butler on the floor, the Rockets extended their lead to as many as 17 points by late in the third quarter before the Wolves pulled within single digits with fewer than five minutes left in the game.
The Rockets pushed their lead to 107-92 with three minutes left.
The last time the two teams played, the Rockets led by a mere four points with fewer than eight minutes left and then made four consecutive 3-point shots for themselves in fewer than the next two minutes.
Before you knew it, they led by 16 points and the Rockets outscored the Wolves 31-17 the rest of the way on a night when they also outscored the Wolves 66-18 on threes and 48-14 in bench scoring.
By the time it was all over, they also ended the Wolves' home winning streak _ third-longest in franchise history _ at 13 games, dating to a Dec. 16 loss to Phoenix.
The Rockets made one more field goal than the Wolves (41-40) and made the same number of free throws (22), but outscored them 42-28 in the fourth quarter by exploiting matchups after they put shooter Ryan Anderson at center against Wolves big man Towns.
On Friday, the Wolves trailed 55-54 at halftime after they nearly matched the Rockets in 3s in a first half when Houston made six and the Wolves five.
After they trailed by nine points in the first quarter, the Rockets built a 10-point lead in the third quarter after they made three 3-pointers within two minutes early in the quarter.
James Harden (31 points, nine assists) made the first with a step-back shot, the kind that Towns picked his brain about during last weekend's All-Star festivities in Los Angeles.
Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with 21 points while Towns and Jeff Teague scored 18 apiece. Butler finished with 10.
Clint Capela added 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who got 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists from Chris Paul.
