San Antonio Spurs down Houston Rockets 122-116 to snap their winning streak: NBA Recap
Tonight was the third time in 22 days these Texas rivals faced each other on the court. The Spurs came into this game having won the previous two encounters and tonight was the same story except for the fact that the Spurs were
pushed to limits by the Rockets tonight.
San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich is quite well known for his temper. He angrily called for a time out when the Spurs allowed James Harden to dunk on a 3-on-1 break. Tiago Splitter, Guard Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan none were spared
from his wrath.
His talk inspired the Spurs to their fourth straight win as they beat the hot Houston Rockets 122-116 here at the AT&T Center Friday night, snapping the Rockets 5 game winning streak.
Tony Parker scored a team high 31 points to go along with his 10 assists, Tim Duncan posted 30 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and made 2 blocks at the critical time, and Emanuel Ginobili came off the bench to score a season high 23
points for the winning cause.
They were unbelievable," Ginobili said of Duncan and Parker. "I had a nice stretch early in the third quarter, but those guys have been great all season. I kind of joined in on the scoring. The main thing is that we beat another
great team that has been rolling."
He was referring to the fact that the Spurs ran into hot Toronto Raptors on Wednesday and also snapped their 5 game win streak.
It was the first game since February 2009 when two or more players crossed the 30 point mark for the Spurs.
James Harden, the league fourth highest leading scorer had a night high 33 points, Chandler Parsons added 24 points while Jeremy Lin finished off with 21 points and 8 assists for the losing cause.
The Spurs' big-three were able to match the highest scoring team in the NBA on the offensive end, but it was the defence that actually changed the momentum late in the game and secured the win. Tight man marking led to 24 turnovers
by the Rockets. After allowing Houston to shoot 55 percent from the floor in the first three quarters, San Antonio tightened up the screws on Rockets in the fourth period, which resulted in Rockets only making 10 of 23 shots in the final period.
San Antonio kicked off the proceedings on a high; they dominated the first quarter and were leading 41-29 by the end of period. Rockets came back in the second, they started slashing the deficit and the Spurs were leading 69-65
at halftime.
An 11 nil spurt early in the fourth quarter pushed the Spurs lead to 112-97, and it pretty much sealed the deal as San Antonio went to win 122-116 eventually.
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