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Playing without their best player on the night, the San Antonio Spurs still surprised a lot of people when they eliminated the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinals series.
After injuring his ankle in Game 5, Kawhi Leonard was forced to sit out Thursday's match as he was still not back to 100 percent. The good news for them is they have LaMarcus Aldridge, who embraced the challenge of being their first option on offense. He responded with arguably his best performance of the season, and finished with a double-double of 34 points and 12 rebounds.
The 31-year-old Texas product received a lot of praise from head coach Gregg Popovich, who discussed how he made it possible for the Spurs to win in convincing fashion, 114-75. He shared, via Michael C. Wright of ESPN, how he scored easily and took advantage of the defense given to him throughout the game.
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“He’s really turned it on, demanded the ball, got in good position using his body, and not always settling for a jumper. [He got] to the rim, did a really good job.”
With the Spurs facing the top-seeded Golden State Warriors, they will need Aldridge to once again play at a very high level in the conference finals. They are also hoping his stellar performance in Game 6 will carry over in the next round and that he can build on the momentum he now has, as they will need all the help they can get to upset the defending Western Conference champions.
