Houston Rockets can’t get off the pad against injured Spurs, drop series

It’s been almost 12 hours and the basketball world is still looking for alleged MVP-contender, James Harden. But the Spurs will be without starting point guard Tony Parker, who is out for the season after tearing his quad in the Rockets series. The Spurs made the Rockets look like twelfth-graders, blowing Houston out with a 39-point massacre, despite not having San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard in the lineup.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series presented a different set of adversity for the San Antonio Spurs.

Gasol on the lopsided win: “No one expected a Game 6. win like this, but we just played hard”.

On Thursday night, Harden rocked a black-and-white iteration of his first signature shoe with Adidas, the Harden Vol. 1. They are playing with house money on Thursday – if they win, they move on.

For D’Antoni, being ousted by coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs is nothing new.

“They were the more physical team today”, Wall said.

“It’s tough. Especially the way we lost at home.it happened”. Harden himself couldn’t put a finger on what led to his sub-par performance, only explaining to reporters that he couldn’t get into a rhythm.

Typically, Harden gets plenty of points at the charity stripe.

When the Spurs opened the second half with an 8-1 burst sparked by six points from Aldridge, the advantage ballooned to 26 points. His 15.5 drives per game lead all players in this year’s playoffs.

“I feel so sorry for him because he’s had an unbelievable – he’s had an historic year”, coach Mike D’Antoni said.

The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets Game 6 kicks off at 08:00 p.m.

Popovich said earlier in the day that Leonard would be a game-time decision.

INJURY UPDATE: Leonard (ankle) is listed as questionable after he did not play in overtime in Game 5. While this season was a success – the Rockets surpassed expectations and clearly have built a team that allows Harden to flourish – the final two games of this series will add to the doubts that already follow Harden and D’Antoni.

The Spurs won the best-of-seven series 4-2 to clinch a trip to the conference finals against the Golden State Warriors.

The Rockets and their reliance on the three-point shot has helped them throughout these playoffs however as we have seen in previous games when their three-point shot is not falling they are unable to get the points in other means.

Not tonight, but Harden is one of the best pure scorers in the National Basketball Association and has averaged 18.9 shots per game over the last three seasons.

Whether the Warriors draw the Spurs or the Rockets in the next round, this season’s destiny appears to be Cavs versus Warriors III.

There were so many positive things to take away from this game (a playoff high 32 assists, the stellar play of Jonathon Simmons, and I haven’t even mentioned Dejounte Murray’s defense!) that it can obscure the areas where the Spurs still need to improve heading into their matchup with the Golden State Warriors.

Asked if Harden was injured, D’Antoni said, “He’s been battling that cold, but nothing I know of. But I think we have a responsibility to make sure the situation is safe and that it’s best for the team as a whole”.