After suffering an embarrassing loss in Game 1 it appears that the San Antonio Spurs have figured things out. They bounced back with a comfortable 27-point win in Game 2 in San Antonio and on Friday night they were on the road for Game 3. They faced the Houston Rockets in their fully packed Toyota Center in downtown Houston. Heading into Friday's matchup the Spurs had won three-straight road games over the Rockets. San Antonio was without the services of their starting point guard Tony Parker in Game 3. Parker left Game 2 in the fourth quarter with a quadriceps injury.
It was the first time since 2001 that the Spurs were playing in the postseason without Tony Parker, ending an NBA record of 221 straight playoff appearances for the French point guard. Rookie guard Dejounte Murray started in Parker's place.
LaMarcus Aldridge steps up
It was a low-scoring first quarter for both teams. With San Antonio leading 13-7 midway through the first period, Houston went on a 14-6 run to close out the first quarter. They held a 21-19 lead after the first 12 minutes of the game. The Spurs slowly started to pull away in the second quarter. They outscored the Rockets 24-18 in the period and at halftime, the score was 43-39 for Gregg Popovich's team. San Antonio started the third quarter with a 12-6 burst and had their first double-digit lead of the game at 55-45.
Heading into the final period of the game the score was 72-66 for the away team. The Spurs played a great fourth quarter offensively as they outscored Houston 31-26 in the period. LaMarcus Aldridge scored nine points in that big fourth quarter to help the Spurs pull away and win the game 103-92. San Antonio held the Rockets to 36.4% shooting and they outrebounded them 49-39.
The Spurs were 16-for-20 from the free-throw line and 9-for-25 from behind the arc.
Balanced scoring for San Antonio in Game 3
Five players scored in double-digits for the Spurs on Friday night. After scoring just 19 points combined in the first two games, LaMarcus Aldridge stepped up in Game 3 and scored 26 points. He was 12-for-20 from the field and also grabbed seven rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists while Patty Mills added 15 points off the bench.
James Harden led the Rockets in scoring with 43 points and five assists. Harden was 10-for-11 from the free-throw line but also had five turnovers in the game. Trevor Ariza contributed with 17 points and five rebounds while Clint Capela scored 12 points.
San Antonio now leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 to be played on Sunday night in Houston.
