HOUSTON -- As Houston Rockets guard James Harden barreled through the San Antonio defense on Friday night en route to 30 second-half points, what gradually became clear was the Spurs' willingness to let Harden thrive as long as his teammates did not.
Plenty of the postgame dialogue celebrated the Spurs' height advantage and how they parlayed it into a 103-92 victory over Houston in Game 3 of this Western Conference semifinal series. The adjustment that proved more decisive was San Antonio ceding scoring opportunities to Harden while muting the Rockets' other perimeter threats.
Harden scored 56.