Timberwolves' Derrick Rose saw a different kind of defensive look from the Rockets

Derrick Rose took only four shots during Monday's victory over the Rockets, but he was about as happy as any player could be, even with none of those shots going in and leaving him scoreless.

"We won. The locker room was great, and that's what I like seeing," Rose said before Wednesday's game vs. the Hornets. "Everybody celebrating. I'm in it for the team. After I'm done playing, I want to be remembered as a winner no matter if I had a lot of points or if I didn't score; I want to affect the game in some way."

Rose certainly has done that almost every game, and Monday's game vs. the Rockets represented a new way an opponent tried to contain Rose. They doubled him off screens and denied Rose the ball. That meant there were going to be opportunities for Rose's teammates.

"I saw what they were doing and if they're paying attention to me like that, someone is open on the court," Rose said. "When a team's game plan is to stop, especially a bench player, something is up."

Rose said he won't take contested shots if defenses focus on him, likely leaving his teammates open.

"I'm not the type of player that's going to try to force it or just try to look for my stats during those type of games," Rose said. "I'm going to do whatever is easy and makes the game easy for everyone else. That game it was trying to get the ball as fast as I could up the court and look for open guys."

Added coach Tom Thibodeau: "It created space for us. Against the blitz he stretched it out, got rid of the ball quick and we got to the second pass, which opened up easy scoring opportunities for us. He's seen a lot of different defenses."

Forward Dario Saric got his three-point shot back on track in Monday's game, drilling three of four from beyond the arc. Saric entered that game 3-for-18 over his previous five games before knocking down a couple open shots — some of which came because of the pressure on Rose.

Saric said he tries to not think so much when his shooting is off, but he added, "I'm a human, you know?"

"Of course when you miss a couple shots ... you're going to be more worried than usual," Saric said.

Saric is a career 35 percent three-point shooter, but he's shooting only 31 percent this season.

• Former Spur Tony Parker is in his first year with the Hornets, averaging 10.1 points off the bench. Thibodeau admitted it was strange seeing Parker in a Hornets uniform. "It's unusual when you see that at the end: a guy that's been with one team and goes to another. It just seems different. But he's having a heck of a year to his credit."