Written by Tim Bontemps at Washington Post.com
As the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets exchanged handshakes, backslaps and well-wishes in the moments after San Antonio clinched a spot in the Western Conference finals with a staggering 114-75 victory in Game 6 of this best-of-seven series, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich and Rockets star James Harden engaged in an extended conversation.
As Harden tells it, that conversation could match those of anyone who witnessed San Antonio’s evisceration of their opponent while star Kawhi Leonard sat out with a sprained left ankle.
“Honestly, he said he don’t know what to say,” Harden said.
He wasn’t alone.
When it was announced that Leonard would miss Game 6, a lopsided victory seemed possible, but with Houston the victor, given the absence of the NBA’s best two-way player.
Instead, San Antonio put on the kind of exhibition that no other team in the league could produce while missing one of the NBA’s best players. And the Rockets — and, in particular, Harden and Coach Mike D’Antoni — exit the postseason with plenty of questions to answer after an utter capitulation in front of their home fans.
“I feel really bad for them that it ended this way,” D’Antoni said, “because they did not deserve this. But, at the same time, San Antonio beat us. They beat us.
“We didn’t have the juice.”
Call it whatever you want — juice, energy, life, passion — the Rockets had none of it. The Spurs dominated the hustle stats, winning virtually every 50-50 ball, as well as the box score. The Rockets shot 28.6 percent from the field, committed 13 turnovers that led to 22 Spurs points, and looked like a lifeless bunch of zombies throughout.
That starts with Harden, who finished with 10 points, three rebounds and seven assists and shot just 2-for-11 from the floor — including 2-for-9 from three. He didn’t take his first shot until halfway through the second quarter; by then, Houston was already trailing by 21.
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