Aldridge steps up for Spurs
San Antonio takes 2-1 lead on Houston in 1st game without Parker
HOUSTON — LaMarcus Aldridge had been criticized through two games of the Western Conference semifinals for not doing enough for the San Antonio Spurs.
On Friday night, with the Spurs now without Tony Parker, he shook off his slow start to this series with a huge game that propelled his team to a 103-92 victory over the Houston Rockets and a 2-1 lead.
Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points apiece in San Antonio’s first postseason game without Parker since 2001, which ended an NBA record of 221 straight playoff appearances for the Frenchman. The 34-year-old was injured in the fourth quarter of Game 2.
“You can’t replace Tony Parker. He’s a Hall of Famer one day, but I think guys just came out with a sense of urgency and just played hard,” Aldridge said.
Aldridge had managed just 19 points combined in the first two games, but stepped up in the wake of Parker’s season-ending leg injury, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter to help the Spurs pull away.
“I do what the team needs,” Aldridge said. “Tonight this was needed and I did it. So I’m always going to try to be aggressive out there and try to make things happen.” Game 4 is Sunday night in Houston. James Harden led the Rockets with 43 points after scoring just 13 in Game 2. But he had only five assists and complained about the officiating all night.
“We had several opportunities,” Harden said. “As a unit we couldn’t get it going consistently.”
Coach Gregg Popovich started rookie Dejounte Murray in San Antonio’s first game since Parker’s quadriceps injury, instead of moving Patty Mills into the starting lineup. Mills had 15 points in 30 minutes and Murray scored just two points in 15 minutes.
“We started off pretty slow, but I think we did good,” said Leonard, who had 10 rebounds and seven assists. “We got a win, but definitely still have to make some adjustments.”
The Spurs led by six when Aldridge scored all of their points in a 7-2 run to make it 85-74 with about five minutes left.
“Aldridge sooner or later is going to go off because he’s an All-Star,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Nothing they did should have bothered us. We just didn’t play well.”
Houston scored six straight points soon after that to get within eight, but Danny Green made two 3-pointers in less than a minute to push the lead to 94-82 with less than three minutes remaining.
San Antonio was up by six entering the fourth quarter and had a five-point lead with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining when Harden was given a technical foul for complaining after not getting a call. Leonard made the free throw to make it 78-72.