Kawhi Leonard, 25, and the San Antonio Spurs have a chance to take a series lead as they host the Houston Rockets during game 5 of the second round of the NBA's Western Conference playoffs.
It took three minutes of overtime for the first bucket, Harden finding Beverley for a corner three that gave the MVP candidate his triple-double (33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists). Leonard stepped on Harden's foot with 5:37 left in the third quarter, then played limited minutes before sitting out overtime. However, when James Harden went up for the game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer, it was Manu Ginobili who came up with the game-saving play, blocking Harden from behind.
But the Spurs and Rockets did play four tight games in the regular season, with three decided by two-point margins.
Kawhi Leonard was spectacular, and the Spurs hung around the Rockets thanks to seemingly disjointed play on offense. "He did a good job, whether distributing or scoring - he was big for us", added Popovich, praising his team's defensive resilience after the loss of Leonard in a tense finale.
OT was particularly ugly, and the first point wasn't scored until 2 minutes to go in the extra period.
Turkish official: US arming Kurds 'unacceptable'
The U.S. military has debated for months how best to proceed as forces prepare to retake Raqqa , ISIS' de facto capital in Syria . There was no immediate reaction from Turkey , with President Tayyip Erdogan expected to meet Trump in Washington next week.
Danny Green then drew a foul attempting a layup to give San Antonio a 109-107 buffer, with a further free throw making it 110-107.
Two questionable plays closed regulation with the score 101-101.
Harden was whistled for a charge after dribbling all but a few seconds off the shot clock before driving to the basket on Jonathon Simmons.
Mills finished with 20 points on on 7-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-12 from the three-point line to go with four assists, but his ability to create three-point opportunities and speed up the Spurs' pace helped open up the offence. The last time the Rockets won a series after being tied 2-2 was in the 1995 Western Conference finals when they beat the Spurs.
Houston bedeviled the Silver and Black with a smaller lineup after it lost backup center Nene to a groin injury in the first quarter. Ginobili has 314 3-pointers in his postseason career, which is third in league history behind Ray Allen (385) and Reggie Miller (320). I think we have to communicate better in transition and try to get to shooters better.
Comments