So Parker being forced to miss the rest of the playoffs is probably a blessing for the Spurs, coincidentally just like in the 2013 playoffs, when David Lee was forced to miss time due to injury, letting Draymond Green take over for him.
National Basketball Association fans will finally get the matchup they've been clamoring for since the Warriors became a league power when Golden State clashes with the San Antonio Spurs starting Sunday in Oakland.
This was, without a doubt, the worst game the Rockets played all year, and there really is nothing to sugarcoat about this game.
After the game, James Harden said he and the rest of the team just fell flat in the biggest game of their season.
The Spurs led from the opening tip, taking an 18-point lead into halftime and holding off the Rockets whenever it looked as if Houston could get a run started. That was not James Harden that showed up for the Houston Rockets tonight.
However, the Rockets can not expect to beat anybody by shooting 28.6 percent.
Cavs push Raptors to brink
LeBron James is delivering devastation to the Raptors and the Cavaliers is running away with the Eastern Conference semifinals. Kyrie Irving and Love each had 16 points, sitting out the entire fourth quarter as Lue stayed primarily with his bench crew.
LaMarcus Aldridge paced the offense by scoring 34 points for the short-handed Spurs, who routed the Rockets despite the absence of top scorer Kawhi Leonard and star guard Tony Parker.
And the Rockets - in particular, Harden and Coach Mike D'Antoni - exit the postseason with plenty of questions to answer after an utter capitulation in front of their home fans. "No matter what it was, we just didn't have it tonight".
Not only were the Spurs successful in preventing open threes, they positively barricaded the rim, too. Pau Gasol paired 10 points with 11 boards for San Antonio, which trailed 5-4 in the first quarter before rolling to victory.
Although Leonard has been the biggest reason for San Antonio's success, they shocked the Rockets without him in game six to close out the series. That effort in a critical game stands to lengthens Popovich's rotation in the Western Conference Finals, and beyond if the Spurs advance, with Simmons particularly proving himself to be a viable fill-in for Leonard defensively. The Rockets, who so many accused of hiring a retread coach and injury-prone players last summer when they added Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, found themselves a winning pace-and-space formula that had them finishing the regular season as the NBA's third-best team (55-21). And it's the same Spurs franchise that has Popovich at the helm.
It is a shame that the Rockets season ended on this note, because it clouds all of the success they had this season. That same $100 bet on the Spurs would win $900. They had a brief discussion with Harden after the game, and they described the MVP candidate as devastated. D'Antoni, who helped Houston to a 14-game improvement in his first season, believes the Rockets might have been worn down by dealing with a team that lacks a clear weakness to exploit. It's pretty good. It could have been better, but we're in the right direction.
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