The San Antonio Spurs were in a tough spot after Kawhi Leonard hurt his ankle in the second half. But nothing to worry about - Danny Green and Ginobili made up for it. The Rockets star guard filled the stat sheet once again, with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but he also had nine turnovers. "My teammates did a good job of closing out that game with me not being able to go that last stretch".
"It was a risky play", said Ginobili after the game. "The diving on loose balls, coming up with whatever it may be, you're throwing your body on the line in those situations". But he seemed to run out of gas in an overtime where he was held scoreless, and had a 3-pointer which could have tied the game blocked by 39-year-old Manu Ginobili just before the buzzer.
Just like it could be a moment to remember for the Spurs, it could be a season to forget for the Rockets and Harden, and he's already being given a torrid time on Twitter for the moment. With a less than 100 percent Leonard playing in the game, Simmons is going to have to make up for that with his own offensive and defensive ability. He then hit one-of-two free throws with seconds left to help the Spurs extend their lead to 3. "But we're not smiling, we know it's one win and we've got to go to Houston, we're expecting them to bring out their guns", Mills said. If Kawhi actually is limited in Game 6, San Antonio's shooting from the outside will need to improve, especially when wide open. As the two teams battled in overtime on May 9, the Spurs were up 110-107.
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.
"Given the circumstances we just wanted to start out better offensively and not get in a hole against these guys, because if you get behind you've got big problems". During the regular season, Houston took 13.3 3s off the dribble; Harden alone took 6.8. Patrick Beverley made a three-pointer with two minutes remaining for the first points of OT, giving Houston a 104-101 lead.
"I can finally breathe", Harden said. He got by Ginobili, put the shot up, but Ginobili actually leaped into the air before Harden started his motion.
Moyes wants to take Sunderland back up
The result coupled with Hull City's draw at Southampton means David Moyes' side are 14 points from safety with four games left. Howe deemed the achievement to be " excellent " considering the "size of the clubs we're ( Bournemouth ) competing against".
Green later tweeted something seemingly meant as a response to Thomas, whose Celtics are tied with the Wizards 2-2 with Game 5 of their East semifinal set for Wednesday: "Just get through that series bro ..."
Tuesday night's win give the Spurs a 3-2 lead over the Rockets. With Nene on the shelf, the Rockets must now look elsewhere to find the production that he has provided them all of this postseason. His absence in overtime was a concern, not only for the result of Game 5 but for his status moving forward.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Leonard asked to stay in the game but the staff made the decision to pull him.
In the second quarter, The Ghost of Manu Past first appeared. "I thought it was important to keep spirits high because we were still very much in the game at that point".
"It's going to be tough". I think it's going to turn out that way.
Comments