Harden’s effort not enough to hold off surging Spurs
Harden hits 43, but rest of offense struggles
If the question seemed to be which superstar would step up, the answer should have been obvious: both.
The difference was than when Kawhi Leonard got going, he brought friends.
James Harden could score enough to keep the Rockets in the game. Clint Capela could block shots and grab rebounds to bide time for the Rockets to find their shots.
That was not going to beat the San Antonio Spurs, not with LaMarcus Aldridge finally bringing reminders of his Portland days torching the Rockets and Danny Green nailing the 3-pointers the Rockets could not. With the Spurs surging through the fourth quarter, they left the misfiring Rockets far behind, taking a 2-1 series lead with a 103-92 victory Friday night at Toyota Center.
Facing the league’s top defense of the regular season back at its suffocating best, the Rockets failed to score 100 points in consecutive games for the first time this season.
“Offensively, we just let ourselves down,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We just couldn’t get it going. Guys couldn’t get open. When they were, they couldn’t make them.
“I thought our defense, our rebounding, our urgency kept us in the game. They hit some shots.”
The Rockets could not. Other than Harden, the Rockets made just 18 of 60 shots. Trevor Ariza hit on 6 of 15 attempts, but was just 1-of-6 in the second half, when other than Harden, the Rockets made just 33.3 percent of their shots.
Harden outscored Leonard, finishing with 43 points while the Spurs’ star defending him had 26 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
But the Rockets again could not knock down the 3s. Other than Harden and Ariza, the Rockets made 2 of 14 3s.
“Offensively, we have to get guys involved,” Harden said. “Guys have to have confidence, knock down their shots. They are doing a good job of just staying home on our shooters, forcing me to finish and make plays.”
Harden scored 30 second-half points. But the Spurs’ defense closed out hard to the Rockets shooters and dropped back to protect the lane. Ryan Anderson took just four shots, all 3-pointers, and missed them all. Other than Harden, the Rockets missed all eight of their 3-pointers in the second half, as the Spurs left tough shots from deep and contested shots at the rim.
“We got to drive it,” D’Antoni said of the solution. “We got to make the extra pass. We got to get through to the next guy. We got to move the ball a little better. It’s been easy all year. The first shot’s there. Now, it might be on the third pass. We have to do a better job moving it.”
Instead, the Rockets drove and took the mid-range shots the Rockets wanted them to take and they normally avoid. The Rockets made just 1 of 10 midrange attempts.
“That’s the way they defend us,” guard Pat Beverley said of the Rockets taking more mid-range shots than usual. “They come off pick-and-roll. Pau Gasol, he’s long. LaMarcus Aldridge, he’s long. They’re trying to take away the alley-oop for Nene and Clint.
The Rockets made just 36.4 percent of their shots, their worst shooting game of the postseason. They were 1-7 in the regular season when shooting worse than 40 percent.
“We got every shot that we wanted tonight,” Beverley said. “We had 10 in-and-outs. We’re not going to get caught up in our shots. We played a hell of a game defensively. We just couldn’t get anything to fall. That happens. That won’t stop us. We’ll stay locked in.”
While the Rockets misfired, Leonard had plenty of help Harden did not. Aldridge, who had just four points in the Rockets’ Game 1 win, had 26 on Friday. With Anderson shading toward Leonard to help cut off drives or the Rockets double-teaming in the low-post, Aldridge often moved to good looks, making 12 of 20 shots.
Every Spurs starter — save rookie Dejounte Murray who started with Tony Parker out — scored in double figures. The Rockets bench, the top-scoring unit in the NBA in the first round, had just 10 points, its fewest of the season.
As with Game 2, the Rockets stayed in the game, anyway, training by four 3½ minutes into the fourth quarter. They just never could get their scoring enough to make a run.
“We had several opportunities,” Harden said. “As a unit, we couldn’t get it going consistently.”