Kawhi Leonard and Lamarcus Aldridge both had 26 points as the San Antonio Spurs took down the Houston Rockets despite 43 points from James Harden.
LaMarcus Aldridge woke up
No one knows what the team or Coach Popovich told LaMarcus Aldridge, but one thing is for sure, he stepped up when the team needed him. Aldridge's 26 came on 12 of 20 shooting from the field. He was a +10 in 38 minutes of action. Rookie Dejounte Murray filled in for the injured Tony Parker, and although he only had 2 points on 1 of 5 shooting, he managed to help keep some intensity on the defensive end.
Recap
The Rockets started the game by really looking energized. The score didn't portray that a lot as the Spurs still found leads in the beginning, but the Rockets were getting offensive rebounds and extra shots at the hoop. The Spurs led for most of the second half when LaMarcus Aldridge dominated and paced the Spurs offense.
The Rockets did not go down without a fight. They brought it to within eight but Danny Green hit two daggers to calmly put the Spurs back up. The Rockets were getting some decent looks at the rim, though they shot just 36 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc.
James Harden stepped up
James Harden had an individual statement of a game. His 43 points came on 14 of 28 shooting and 5 of 13 from the three-point line.
No one else stepped up for Houston, however, as Trevor Ariza went cold in the second half after making five threes in the first, and Lou Williams had zero off the bench.
The Rockets really need better spot up shooting from Ryan Anderson. It seemed like he was getting back into a good rhythm, but in game 3 he had just 2 points in 29 minutes.
He was 0 for 4 from the field. This won't cut it for the series. If Anderson isn't hitting shots to help space the floor, then he's a real issue to have on the floor for Houston.
All in all the Spurs looked impressive without Tony Parker. They didn't go berzerk on offense but shot a respectable 45 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc.
A huge key in this game was rebounding. The Spurs out-rebounded the Rockets by 10 and although we don't have numbers on what those rebounds attributed to on offense, it helped the Spurs slow down the Rockets' insane amount of possessions they get.
This series is far from over but the Spurs look like they want this bad. In a game 3 where you are on your home court, the Rockets looked a bit flat at times and didn't have the fight in them for portions of the game.
