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| Kawhi Leonard was the answer tonight with 48 points. |
Kawhi Leonard was visibly tired as the first overtime period ended with another stalemate, forced to watch James Harden just barely miss a 3PT dagger that would have devastated the home crowd in San Antonio. Harden also missed the original potential game-winner in regulation after the Spurs made a resilient 45-36 scoring advantage comeback in the fourth quarter. Harden finished with 35 points and 11 assists.
However, it was Chris Paul's night for the Rockets, who led by 14 points in the 3rd quarter and looked destined for a victory to snap the win streak and win an evasive game in San Antonio, which few teams have done so far (the Spurs have the best home win/loss record). He was on fire from deep and threatened the Spurs with a second All-Star playmaker to contend with. CP3's crossover actually caused Rudy Gay an ankle injury in the 4th quarter, when hope fell frail for the Spurs were it not for a brilliant twist of fortune, spoiling Gay's efficient shooting night (25 points, 10/14 shooting).
The bench for San Antonio answered in stunning fashion, as the Rockets sizable lead with 5 minutes to spare on the clock was depleted bit by bit, shot after shot, stop after stop (and that says a lot, with the Rockets still scoring so well, denying the comeback initially). Patty Mills shockingly found his shot from long range after having a cold three quarters, finishing ultimately with 27 points and focusing on distribution with 8 assists until he found his shot. Huge shots by the Australian sensation truly sparked SA's comeback into motion, and Leonard only finished the job, hitting clutch cold-blooded 3PTers and driving furiously into the paint, drawing fouls and making the basket. Pau Gasol (24 points, 16 rebounds) also hit a clutch jumper to pad the lead in the second overtime, after Leonard had performed two steals leading to easy baskets for the Spurs.
The Spurs finally bested the Rockets, 168-152, a wild total score, winning the overtime periods 42-28 after the early run put things out of reach for Houston. Bismack Biyombo has been a defensive stalwart, a much-needed presence down low for the Spurs, since the trade and has nearly gotten a triple double or quadruple-double in some cases with blocks, steals and rebounds, benefiting on the scoring end from San Antonio's ball movement. The big man finished at 10 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks before fouling out, which Houston's Clint Capela (24 points, 15 rebounds) nearly did.
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| Golden State and San Antonio will collide soon |
In the victory, Tony Parker helped fill in for Mills' rough start with 14 points, also hitting a stepback 3PTer in double overtime. The Spurs also won the battle down low, 76 to 64 for points in the paint. The Spurs sound strategy, courtesy of Coach Pop's knowledge, saw them fouling Chris Paul as the Spurs held a two point lead in the first overtime period, watching CP3 tie the contest, but ensuring that they got a good shot in response (rather than let Houston run down the clock and take the last shot). Patty Mills missed a good-looking 3PT shot before Harden's, as noted above, however. Josh Smith also had a nice showing replacing Gay after his injury in regulation, a nice dunk and solid defense.
In the loss, Chris Paul had an amazing 19 assists to go with 35 points. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson combined for 24 points. The Spurs would go on to soundly defeat the Kings at home, by nearly 30 points, behind Josh Smith's strong showing having been given the starting job as Gay will be out for at least another game, adding some drama to the next meeting with Russell Westbrook's OKC Thunder--the only team left in the Spurs way toward a showdown with the Golden State Warriors. Leonard, Mills and Gasol rested in this game and watched J-Smoove smash 6 blocks, 24 points and 8 rebounds. The Spurs won 111-83, as the Kings were cold shooting on the court. The bench was strong for San Antonio, crushing SAC's by 30 points in comparison. Davis Bertans scored 16 points and 7 rebounds; Iman Shumpert had 14 points and 2 steals; Dejounte Murray had 13 points, 8 assists with 3 steals and Bryn Forbes had 11 points on three long-balls.
Fans are looking forward to the Spurs possibly being on a 12-game win streak which would mark 50 wins on the season so far, as they imminently host their greatest threat in the west, Steph Curry and co. Golden State has won 15 straight games, but hey--no pressure. It is just the second meeting between these two juggernauts, as the Spurs stunned the Warriors on the road to open the season.