Which team will advance to the Western Conference Finals? Spurs or Rockets?

Series tied 1-1

A great overall performance by the San Antonio Spurs in yesterday's game gave them the second game of the series and tied the series in one game a piece going into Houston and the Toyota Center. Leonard had an overall fantastic game, willing the Spurs to victory, with 34 points to go along with 7 rebounds and a playoff career-high 8 assists, as well as 3 steals. One of the best all-around players in the NBA, possibly the best, had himself a game last night in what could have been a very crucial and perhaps season-ending loss for the Spurs; had they lost game 2 at home. However, the question is the following: Which team will advance to the Conference Finals to most likely take on the Warriors, who at the moment seem unstoppable? In my opinion, the answer is the Spurs.

Credit: NBA Facebook

An exceptional coached Spurs team, who has been in championship contention for more than 15 years, and have won five championships, has to face another obstacle in the Houston Rockets. Leonard is turning into a superstar, a clutch player, the greatest wing defender in the world, and has the ability to also score, rebound and assist the basketball. One in a million. However, the only problem with the Spurs is that despite having the experience, the superstar player, and the greatest coach in basketball in Greg Popovich, they are getting old. Tony Parker's knee injury last night seems to be serious and he could miss the series, possibly the rest of the playoffs, while Gasol cannot play defense and sometimes is too slow, and tired to go up the court. As well as Lamarcus Aldrige who can at times be amazing on the offensive side of the floor but terrible on the defensive side of the floor. Leonard lacks help, but in the last years we have seen the Spurs win series against tough teams, challenging the Warriors and being the biggest threat there is in the Western Conference. Leonard, as previously stated in some games lacks help, being the biggest issue of this Spurs team. Nevertheless, as we saw yesterday Lamarcus Aldridge can be good offensively (15pts), Gasol can get you 10-15 rebounds a game, while Parker can still play an effective game and facilitate the offense (18 pts). They have the depth that's needed to go far in the playoffs, with Patty Mills, Jonathon Simmons and David Lee, coming off the bench and in my opinion, they can get a game in the Toyota Center and win the series in six or seven games.

Game 2

On the other hand, the Rockets shot the lights out of game one on Monday, but they never showed up last night. This is the problem with this specific team, and teams who shot many threes. One day they can shoot the ball exceptionally well while spreading the floor with James Harden being the facilitator and the next game the shots are not falling. This is what happened yesterday the shots for the Rockets were not falling. They made 11/34 threes last night. Leonard locked up Harden on the offensive side of the floor, limiting him to only 13 points, and the Spurs beat the Rockets by 25 points, 96-121. In order for the Rockets to have a chance and advance to the Conference Finals to face off against the Warriors, they have to shoot effectively from the field and especially from their favorite spot on the court, the three point line, and make 16-21 threes per game. If they can do that against a great defensive team in the Spurs, they can beat them twice in Houston and then have the advantage and the 3-1 lead. James Harden has to start to attack the 'weak' San Antonio paint and get foul calls. In yesterday's game, he only had six free throws attempted. He has to double that, he has to shoot more and attack the paint. This is something, I'm sure we will see coming Friday, with Harden being locked in, zoned in and attacking the Spurs more, thus creating more shot opportunities for himself, but also for his teammates.

A big question mark for the rest of the series is Tony Parker and his knee injury. He played well last night, scored 18 points helped Leonard on the offensive part, and facilitated the offense in a way he can do and has done best for the last 15 years, but now with him being injured, Patty Mills and the other guys, coming off the bench will have to step up, and this will be a big test for Popovich. Can he get them to do something they don't normally do? Can he make them step up? These questions will be answered on Friday when the Spurs travel to Houston to take on the Rockets in game 3 of the second round matchup. A matchup, that after the Celtics vs Wizards series will be the most exciting to watch, with two teams battling and being tied 1-1 in their fight to advance to the Conference Finals.

My prediction: Spurs in six


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Credit: NBA Conference (YouTube Channel)