San Antonio Spurs take 2-1 lead with road win in Houston

LOS ANGELES, USA – LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points as the San Antonio Spurs used a barrage of late three pointers to overcome James Harden’s 43-point performance to beat the Houston Rockets 103-92 in their playoff series.

Aldridge was especially dangerous from in the paint in game three as the Spurs took a 2-1 lead in the second-round Western Conference series.

He shot 12-of-20 from the field, a much better performance than the four points he scored in Houston’s one-sided win in game one.

“This was his best game, obviously,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Aldridge. “He felt good tonight. He was loose as far as his physical nature, his legs and everything. He wasn’t too stiff. And it showed. He moved up and down the court well, he was able to push off on the block, he felt good shooting the ball.

“In addition to busting his butt on (defense) and trying to hit the boards for us, he was a big help tonight.”

Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Houston.

Kawhi Leonard added 26 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Trevor Ariza tallied 17 points for Houston but had just two after halftime.

The Rockets’ three-man bench of Eric Gordon, Nene and Lou Williams combined for 10 points on 3-of-19 shooting.

“They did a good job of just staying home on our shooters and forcing me to finish and make plays,” said Harden, who was 14 of 28 from the floor.

Houston shot just 36 percent from the field and couldn’t keep pace with San Antonio, who were playing without injured point guard Tony Parker.

Parker will miss the remainder of the 2017 postseason after suffering a ruptured left quadriceps tendon in the fourth quarter of game two. – Rappler.com