Houston Rockets Vs. San Antonio Spurs: Round 2 | Game 6: Sneak Peek Analysis
After an admirable effort through regulation of the game, the Houston Rockets fell apart in overtime Tuesday night.
After an admirable effort through regulation of the game, the Houston Rockets fell apart in overtime Tuesday night.
How could a team that was so focused at the task at hand, completely fall apart when they were needed the most to maintain their composure.
That question remains to be answered and only those parties involved will ever know what came about in those awful five minutes of overtime ball.
Now the Rockets have their backs up against the wall and must win tonight to stay alive.
Will they?
We’re about to find out.
So who’s leading the charge for the Spurs?
Kawhi Leonard leads the team in scoring (27.8 PPG), assists (4.7 APG), steals (1.7 SPG) and in rebounds (7.7 RPG) and Pau Gasol is in charge of the blocks (1.0 BPG).
Let’s talk about what the Spurs do well.
Their offense remains robust. The Spurs are 3rd in the playoffs in regard to offensive efficiency, averaging 112.3 points per 100 possessions.
They take care of the basketball quite well. The Spurs are 2nd in turnover ratio, with a meager 11.5 percent of their possessions ending with a turnover.
They’re still great on the boards. The Spurs are 1st in rebound rate, taking down 53.1 percent of missed shots.
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Injuries:
Nene Hilario injured himself in the first half of Game 4 back May 7th. He was going up for a dunk and did not feel right after coming back down. After heading to locker room and been seen by the training staff, an MRI had to be done and it was found that he has a torn adductor muscle in his left thigh. He will miss the rest of the playoffs and the team still has yet to determine the best way to treat his injury. He’s not under contract next season so I know that has some type of role in their future decision.
Tony Parker injured himself while pulling up for jumper late in Game 2 back May 3rd. He landed awkwardly on his left leg and had to be carried off the court to the locker room by his teammates. He has been diagnosed with a ruptured left quad and is done for the rest of playoffs.
This is tough news to digest as he is one of my favorite players to watch and has been over the years.
As of last Friday, Parker had successful surgery on the quad and his recovery time is expected to be up to eight months.
I certainly hope he doesn’t have to retire but it’s long road ahead to recovery from an injury like this.
Kawhi Leonard injured his ankle late in Tuesday’s night game. He did not play any of the overtime period and is officially QUESTIONABLE for tonight. Will he play? This is the playoffs — I’m positive he’ll give it a go and bow out if he has to. Just hopefully it’s not too late for the Rockets to try to win tonight’s game when he finally does.
Source(s): Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, NBA.com, the San Antonio Express-News, Paul Garcia of Project Spurs
Matchups to Watch:
- Patrick Beverley vs. Patty Mills
- James Harden vs. Danny Green
- Trevor Ariza vs. Kawhi Leonard
- Clint Capela vs. David Lee
- Ryan Anderson vs. LaMarcus Aldridge
Prediction:
121-112 in a Houston Rockets’ win!
The Rockets are back at home to take on the Spurs at Toyota Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT.
The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on NewsRadio 740 AM (KTRH), Sirius 207, XM/SiriusXM 86 (Internet 890) and La Ranchera 101.7 FM (KNTE) & 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.
Go Rockets.