After getting embarrassed on Monday night, the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Houston Rockets again on Wednesday night. It was Game 2 of their Western Conference Semifinals matchup with Houston stealing home-court advantage in Game 1 and leading the series 1-0. After the Rockets handed them their worst Game 1 loss in franchise history with a 27-point blowout, San Antonio wanted to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd at AT&T Center. Houston entered Wednesday's game having scored at least 100 points in every playoff game this season. Their leading scorer and MVP candidate James Harden came into this game averaging 31.0 points, 8.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds this postseason.
The Spurs with a dominant performance
Both teams started the game well and managed to score easily early on. Midway through the first quarter the score was tied at 16-16 before San Antonio went on an 11-5 run and took a 27-21 lead. After the first period of the game the Spurs held a 33-30 lead and they shot 62 percent in the opening quarter. It was a back-and-forth second quarter and the score was 48-46 for the home team midway through the period. San Antonio closed the quarter on a 15-5 run and held a 65-55 lead at halftime. Houston responded with a great third quarter as they outscored the Spurs 28-23 in the period and entered the fourth quarter with a five-point deficit (88-83).
The fourth quarter was all about San Antonio.
They scored 33 points in the final period of the game while holding the Rockets to just 13 points. The final score was 121-96 for Gregg Popovich's squad. They held a big rebounding advantage in Wednesday's game (47-32) and held Houston to just 11-for-34 shooting from the three-point line. San Antonio finished the game with 27 assists and just eight turnovers, while shooting 54.5% from the field.
Kawhi Leonard with 34 points
San Antonio had five different players scoring at least 12 points in Game 2. Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 34 points and also added seven rebounds and eight assists. Leonard tied his postseason high with 20 points in the first half. He shot 13-for-16 from the field and added three steals as well.
After being limited to four points in Game 1 LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15 and grabbed eight boards in Game 2. Tony Parker contributed with 18 points and four assists.
Houston's All-Star point guard James Harden was held to 13 points on 3-for-17 shooting. Ryan Anderson was the leading scorer for the Rockets in Game 2 with 18 points, while Eric Gordon added 15.
The series is now tied at 1-1 with Game 3 to be played on Friday night at the Toyota Center.
