HOUSTON (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Houston Rockets with a 114-75 victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals Thursday night, and they didn’t even need Kawhi Leonard to do it.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a season-high 34 points and added 12 rebounds in his second big game of the series to pick up the scoring slack with Leonard out after rolling his ankle in San Antonio’s overtime win in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
The Spurs were up by 19 by halftime in a game that was over quickly, and didn’t let up to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since winning the title in 2014. The 4-2 series win sends them to conference finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Trevor Ariza led Houston with 20 points on a night when MVP hopeful James Harden capped his stellar season by tying a season low with 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting before fouling out with 3:15 left.
