Houston went on a 16-0 run in the final quarter, 24-11 overall and also winning the 3rd quarter. The Spurs made just one more 3PTer than they had at halftime by the end of the game, a sad outcome. Kawhi Leonard had a severe drop-off point from his first half fight with James Harden (who also cooled off), with "The Beard" dropping a cool 20+ on him.
The Spurs burst out of the second quarter on a 10-0 run to make it a game, showing off its substantial firepower as well to trim the lead to 38-41, after going down 28-39 to end the first quarter. The game was 60-62 at halftime, but the stats revealed the future: Houston shot 57% to SA's 41%, even though San Antonio was drawing more free throws, both teams knotted at six three-pointers at the midway point.
Harden finished with 31 points on 54% shooting, making four 3PTers to boot. Chris Paul had a strong game with 23 points and 10 assists. Trevor Ariza had 17 points with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Clint Capela had a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds. Off the bench, Joe Johnson had 8 points and P.J. Tucker had 7 points.
In the loss, Kawhi Leonard went a chilling 0-9 from long range, shooting 31% on 7-22 shooting, barely scoring more than his first half with 20 points. Mario Hezonja had 12 points, Patty Mills had 11, but was ice cold from long range. Pau Gasol had 10&8 and Jeremy Lamb scored 11 points.