The San Antonio Spurs managed to take Game 2 against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, tying the series with an emphatic 121-96 bounce-back victory.
San Antonio opened the game with a ton of energy, beating Houston in all facets during the first eight minutes. However, the Rockets weathered the storm early and only trailed by three at the end of the first period.
Rockets forward Ryan Anderson had 10 points and four rebounds in his first eight minutes to help keep Houston competitive.
End of 1 in San Antonio. Ryno leading the way with 10pts.
Spurs 33 l Rockets 30 pic.twitter.com/4I2Ff8AK4k
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) May 4, 2017
Danny Green, who struggled immensely in Game 1, opened shooting 4-for-4 from the field for the Spurs.
Gregg Popovich opted to start Pau Gasol at center over veteran forward David Lee, who irritated Popovich with his defensive mishaps early in Game 1. Lee responded by giving the Spurs a much-needed offensive boost off the bench with four points and two assists in the first period.
The Spurs’ crowd was mostly held to silence in Game 1, but absolutely erupted following this Tony Parker three-pointer in the second period:
The @attcenter lost it after this one! #GOSPURSGO pic.twitter.com/eDCHPLm0LZ
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 4, 2017
San Antonio led Houston 65-55 at intermission. Outside of Lee, the Spurs saw help in the first half from Kawhi Leonard (20 points; Playoff career-high in one half), Danny Green (12 points) and Pau Gasol (three blocks). James Harden only had three points at intermission.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who was largely a non-factor last game, was noticeably more aggressive this time around — attempting more shots before intermission than he had attempted in all of Game 1.
Beautiful passing from the #Spurs ends with a LaMarcus Aldridge score before the end of the 1st#NBAplayoffs pic.twitter.com/WKhqJXAp2l
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 4, 2017
San Antonio picked up the defensive intensity in the second half while continuing to move the ball exceptionally well, and eventually expanded their lead to 15. Pau Gasol and Tony Parker — along with the various three-guard lineups Gregg Popovich was throwing out at random — began causing issues for Houston defensively.
The Spurs ultimately closed out the game in emphatic fashion, extending their lead to 26 late in the fourth.
Jonathon Simmons provided 14 points off the bench, including this powerful and-one slam:
Jonathon Simmons AND-1! #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/7Lh0k7xzRh
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 4, 2017
The Spurs were once again led by Kawhi Leonard, who put on yet another efficient scoring clinic in these playoffs. He finished with 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting, including seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
Pau Gasol added 13 rebounds and four blocks, LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Tony Parker added 18 points.
Unfortunately for the Spurs, Parker went down with a serious non-contact knee injury in the fourth quarter:
Tony Parker suffered a scary looking leg injury pic.twitter.com/kQ4dUhtG1W
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 4, 2017
Tony Parker had to be carried off the court by teammates following his apparent knee injury ? pic.twitter.com/YT3CthNDHQ
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 4, 2017
Parker wouldn’t return to the contest following the injury. The Spurs later announced that he would undergo an MRI exam at some point on Thursday.
“It’s not good,” coach Popovich said following the game.
The Rockets were nowhere close to performing like the offensive superpower they were in Game 1. Some of the credit should deservedly go to the Spurs for their defensive effort, of course. However, James Harden (13 points on 3-for-17 shooting) struggled to find a rhythm on the night, as did teammate Trevor Ariza (two points, 1-for-5 from deep). Those two combined for 43 points in Game 1.
Ryan Anderson was a positive, however, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds. Eric Gordon added 15 off the bench, and Clint Capela played well defensively.
Houston, who trailed for just 13 seconds in Game 1, astonishingly managed to lead this game for only 24 seconds. The series now heads to Houston for Game 3 on Friday night, where San Antonio may be forced to play without its starting point guard in Tony Parker.
