The Spurs fell 125-104 Sunday evening to the Houston Rockets in Game Four of their Western Conference semifinal.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich saw the way the Rockets were shooting through three quarters and decided to pull the plug. Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge were held to 30 and 25 minutes played respectively.
Seven Rockets scored in double figures and they were lights out as a team from three, hitting 19-of-43.
The Rockets are very susceptible to wild swings in shooting percentages. James Harden was fantastic in Game Three, but the rest of the Rockets went 18/60. Game Four was a completely different story.
Kawhi Leonard was held to 16 total points, after going for 14 points in the first half.
Gregg Popovich summarized the loss by saying, “Our bible begins with transition defense. If you would have seen the clips of our transition d you would have traded all the players and fired me.”
Spurs and Rockets meet for Game Five Tuesday evening in San Antonio.
Remember to watch FANTOM’s Ari Temkin live after each and every Spurs playoff game.
