HOUSTON -- The objective for the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night was for the eight-man rotation employed by coach Mike D’Antoni to finish the regular season with a smooth performance. James Harden recorded his 22nd triple-double, all five starters scored in double figures, center Clint Capela made 11 of 12 shots and Ryan Anderson made 6 of the team's 19 3-pointers.

The Rockets finished with a 55-27 record after a 123-118 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 55 wins are tied for the fourth-most in franchise history, and Harden made some history as well.

He did all he could during his MVP campaign, leading the league in assists and becoming the first man in league history to score 2,000 points, grab 600 rebounds and have 900 assists in a season. He also finished one point shy of tying the league mark for points scored or assisted on with 4,538.

The big picture with the Rockets goes beyond awards and records, though. They want to win the franchise's first NBA title since 1995.

Clint Capela hit on 11 of his 12 shots Wednesday night for 22 points to go with 10 rebounds. Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

It will be a difficult road, beginning with a first-round matchup against Russell Westbrook, Harden's closest opponent in the MVP race, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Game 1 is Sunday night.

If the Rockets surpass the Thunder, they could face the Spurs or Clippers in Round 2. And if the Rockets have their way, they'll have another date with the Warriors, this time in the West finals.

Guard Patrick Beverley said the Rockets fear no team and that they’ve earned the right to be confident in their abilities.

“You got to be happy,” Beverley said. “Fifty-five wins in the West, third-best team in the NBA, it wasn’t great. But for our first year as a unit being together under a new coach, new offense, new defensive schemes, new players before trade deadline, to get 55 wins in this league or 55 wins in any league is tough, and we were fortunate to play so well in our first year all together.”

Houston ran out to a 31-9 start this season, putting itself in strong standing in the West. But the team went just 24-18 to close the season, including 11-8 in the final 19 games. Harden dealt with a jammed wrist (which isn’t giving him any problems now), Anderson missed six games with an ankle injury, and several other players dealt with minor health issues.

D’Antoni said he was proud of how his team went through that funk of injuries and mediocre play to maintain their No. 3 seed heading into the postseason.

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“We’ve just got to do the little thing now throughout the rest of the way,” guard Eric Gordon said. “We’ve had a great start, and when you’ve had a great start to the season, we’ve just built off that and really had good chemistry, and we really know how to play this season. So it’s just been good to follow through and just ended up having a good year.”

Last season, the Rockets needed to win their final regular-season game to make the postseason and reach a 41-41 record. To review what happened would require a miniseries, but this season has been different. Everything has moved so smoothly with D’Antoni as the coach, and Harden is in such a good place with the structure of this team.

“I’m excited, especially because this is the first time that I’ve been here, guys are on the same page,” Harden said. “We have a coaching staff that has a system, and everybody knows that system offensively and defensively and just the personnel as well. The guys, we have more than enough in this locker room to compete with anybody in the league.”