Spurs routed by Rockets 126-99 at home, down 0-1 in West semis

SAN ANTONIO – At the end of the third quarter Dewayne Dedmon stood toe to toe with James Harden, they jawed at each other back and forth until Nene stepped in and hit Dedmon in the neck and face area with and open hand. 

Nene was ejected. That was the most fight the Spurs showed all night in game one of the Western Conference semifinals against Houston losing to the Rockets 126-99.

"Just talking crazy talking crazy, I am standing up for my teammates," said James Harden. Nene had no comment after the game.

San Antonio and Dedmon couldn't even handle that bit of fire, Dedmon ended up burning himself.  

He kept jawing throughout the fourth quarter and while he was getting ready to shoot free throws, he was going back and forth with Patrick Beverly and then he got tossed.

The Rockets exploded from the opening tip and embarrassed San Antonio, taking Game One. It was one of the worst playoff losses in Spurs franchise history.

"We lost, and they won, and they played better," is how Gregg Popovich summed it up.

This one seemed doomed from the start. Gregg Popovich called a time out just a minute and 20 seconds into the game to chew out David Lee with the Rockets up 5-2. James Harden had just hit a three pointer.

Then with the Spurs down six at the 9:07 mark of the first, he replaced Danny Green.

Nothing Popovich or the Spurs did worked. It was the worst of two worlds for the Spurs.

They couldn't hit a shot and the Rockets knocked down everything from inside and outside.  

Houston outscored the Spurs in the paint, 36-32, and hit a franchise record 22 3-pointers, they shot 50. Trevor Ariza led the Rockets with 23 while Harden had 20.

The Rockets blew it open in the second quarter and had a 30 point lead at the half 69-39. They actually got the lead to 39 in the second half.

"Sure we competed, but it don't think we executed in a very wise manner," said Popovich said. "We disobeyed a lot of basic basketball rules that they can take advantage of."

The Rockets also played some stiff defense, they held the Spurs to just 37 percent shooting and held Kawhi Leonard to 21 points.

LaMarcus Aldridge really struggled, he only scored four points in 25 minutes on 2 of 7 shooting

"We understand tonight was atrocious for us offensively," Aldridge said and admitted he was going to have to take his time.  

"We got a win but the object is to win four so for us it's about staying locked in, staying focused and being greedy," Ariza said.

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