Spurs overcome Leonard injury, Harden to beat Rockets in OT

After Manu Ginobili tied the game at 101 with 34 seconds left, Houston called a timeout.

The Rockets held a three-point lead at halftime.

San Antonio could clinch the series with a victory in Houston on Thursday. Following back-to-back comeback wins by the East’s top seed in the first two games in Boston, Washington returned the favor with a pair of dominant wins on its home court.

San Antonio and Cleveland or finals Rematch? Others thought he simply stunk up the place during the series. With small ball being an epidemic in the league the Rockets are able to get away with lack luster defense. The betting line was just 5.5 points in Game 5 in favor of the Spurs, and an ineffective Leonard Thursday night will probably mean the series will conclude with a deciding seventh game. The team that led at the half had won every game in the series until Game 5.

“I just missed shots”, Harden said.

The second quarter was more of the same.

San Antonio meanwhile played the final minutes of regulation and the overtime period without Leonard, who appeared to twist his left ankle during a drive in the third quarter.

The starters have largely been on the bench and the fans on the way to their cars by late in the fourth quarter. Spurs defeated the Rockets, 103-92. “It’s all about tempo”. You can catch the action in what should be another close game May 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm on ESPN. “We played as hard as we could and we had our chances to win, so be it”. “So I think everybody else picked it up very well”, Popovich said after Tuesday’s win.

Rockets: Houston has lost four straight best-of-seven series when it was tied 2-2. At 6-8 Harrell is undersized to play center, but his athleticism helped him excel when he was getting consistent playing time midway through the regular season.

NEED TO KNOW: Simple stuff so far. Averaging less than four points per contest on below 30 percent shooting for the playoffs wasn’t going to get it done.

KEEP AN EYE ON: The Spurs’ transition defense.

“Patty did tonight what he has done for us the entire time he has been here”, said Popovich of Mills who joined the Spurs in 2012. “Obviously with San Antonio winning last night and them having a 3-2 advantage, as a staff we’ve started filling in on those guys a little bit today”. Nene is out for the remainder of the postseason after tearing his left adductor in Game 4. Neither team showed up much on the defensive end, leading to a shootout that went down to the overtime wire.

PRESSURE IS ON: In this situation, both. “Either team could have won the game down the stretch”.