San Antonio Spurs grab easy win against the Houston Rockets in game 2

After taking an early 1-0 series lead, the Houston Rockets failed to weather the storm of Gregg Popovich and his squad’s resilience in Game 2.

We all knew that after a loss as big as the San Antonio Spurs’ on Monday, they would come back out firing on all cylinders in Game 2. And well, that’s exactly what they did.

At halftime, both teams had six makes from behind the arc (H-town was 6/15 and San Antone 6/13). However, the Spurs had attained 65 points, almost double the amount they had in the first half of Game 1.

They also had a ten-point lead.

In the first half, Houston’s offense seemed somewhat stagnant, with James Harden putting a lackluster 3 points up by halftime and not moving the ball nearly as much as on Monday night.

By halftime, Kawhi Leonard was well on his way to a huge night, finishing with 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. A scare occurred for the Spurs in the fourth when Tony Parker went out with what appeared to be a serious left leg injury in the mid-fourth quarter.

When asked about the severity of Parker’s injury, Pop’s response was rather simplistic:

“Its not good.”

It turns out that Spurs fans’ worst fears might be realized after a big Woj bomb on Thursday morning.

Sources: San Antonio's Tony Parker is still undergoing an MRI on left leg now, but team expects Parker will need season-ending surgery.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 4, 2017

In the second half, mainly the third quarter, Houston continually tried to claw back. A 10 point SA lead would minimize to 3 or 4, then expand back to double digits. But at the end of the day, the Spurs’ 27 assists and 54.5% FG percentage were enough to hold off the Rockets this time around.

More from Space City Scoop

• Shaq explains how Jrue Holiday can learn from the Rockets
• Houston Rockets: 3 trades of John Wall to the Clippers, Spurs, and Bulls
• Houston Rockets hire Chris Wallace, architect of ‘Grit and Grind’ Grizzlies
• Rockets: Kendrick Perkins shares perception of Stephen Silas around the league
• 3 reasons why the Rockets should trade for D’Angelo Russell

As much as San Antonio controlled the game, Houston, amazingly, found themselves down by a mere 5 points entering the fourth quarter.

But eventually the inability to claw themselves back to a lead came to haunt them. The Rockets’ deficit became insurmountable in the fourth, as San Antonio outscored Houston 33-13 in that quarter.

When Kawhi Leonard is Kawhi Leonard (and also when Harden can only afford 3/17 from the field for 13 points), the Spurs are difficult to beat.

Fortunately for the Houston Rockets, however, because of stealing Game 1 in SA, they will return to the Toyota Center with home court advantage. The series remains tied 1-1, which is a pretty good place to be for the Rockets.

Next: (Un)biased thoughts on Rockets vs. Spurs

Game 3 is Friday at 8:30 CT in Houston and will be broadcast on ESPN. Red Nation needs to be loud and ready.