A NOTCH ABOVE
With Harden in control, S.A. faces losing proposition
SAN ANTONIO — James Harden was back on that floor, facing the matchup in almost the same spot that the Rockets’ 2016-17 season effectively ended. This was different. He was different. The Rockets were different.
Game 5 had gotten away from the Rockets last spring, with Manu Ginobili stuffing Harden’s final attempt. The Rockets had not returned to San Antonio since.
When Harden found himself isolated on Ginobili again, dancing at that same 3-point line, the game in his hands, he nailed his 3-pointer through Ginobili’s foul, slamming the door unlike last spring and taking the Rockets past the Spurs 102-91 on Thursday night.
But beyond how Harden finished off the Spurs, draining consecutive 3s when the
Spurs were within seven points with 2½ minutes still left to make a run, the Rockets won in a way that could be far more meaningful than just having an unstoppable force piling up numbers.
Down a pair of shooters and with a few more struggling, the Rockets won with defense and another strong finish led by their star guards. In what became a slow-down, defense-forward slog through AT&T Center, they held the Spurs to the third-fewest points against the Rockets this season despite the Spurs scoring six points in the final 78 seconds.
“That was the key tonight, the defense,” said Rockets center Clint Capela, who matched his career high with five blocked shots. “Whenever you stop a team, get a defensive rebound, get out, it’s better for everybody.
“We’re getting better. So, of course, we’re getting more confident. It is going to help us moving forward.”
Paul turns it around
The Rockets are 17-2 when holding teams under 100 points, including a pair of wins in the past six games. In their past eight games, since returning from the loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles, the Rockets have produced the sixth-rated defense in the NBA, going 7-1 to close to within 2½ games of Golden State for the best record in the NBA.
“It’s a great step,” Harden said. “I think all night defensively we were locked in. We just got stops. We knew they were going to make a run. We had our composure. They cut it to six. We just got buckets and got stops when we needed to.”
After rallying from 19 points down to within six just two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Spurs went three minutes without scoring. The Rockets were not scoring, either, having missed six of seven shots to end the third quarter and start the fourth.
With that, Chris Paul pledged to stop worrying about his comeback from a sore groin muscle to take over until Harden returned to close out the victory.
“I told (coach Mike D’Antoni) I was tripping,” Paul said. “It was my fault they were coming back. All game I wasn’t really trusting what I had going on. I was like, ‘That’s enough.’ ”
Paul had made 2 of 10 shots when he stopped the Spurs’ run with a midrange jumper. Minutes later, he hit another. And then another.
“He came over to me … and said, ‘Coach, it’s on me,’ ” D’Antoni said. “‘I’m out here trying to protect myself. Let me go out here and do what I do.’ Three straight buckets and (the lead) gets back up to 12. I’ve played a little bit. Never with the control he and James have in the game. It’s unbelievable.”
Defense takes a bow
When Harden returned, he started by firing a dart as if skimming a rock on a pond that found Luc Mbah a Moute on the break. He tossed a lob to Capela. Finally, with the Spurs down seven points, Harden drained consecutive 3s and then did an end-zone dance.
Harden, who had 28 points and 11 assists, said hitting the 3-pointer he could not get off last spring meant nothing. Beating the team that beat the Rockets when they last met in San Antonio was no more important than any other win.
But the way the Rockets won with defense and a finishing kick was significant. They won the Spurs’ way, locking down with defense until their stars could take over.
“We played well defensively, but we needed buckets,” D’Antoni. “Chris got us … three right there to get it to 12, and James throws a dagger into them. That’s what they do.”