Leonard reportedly wanted to play, but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich chose to hold out his star player to ensure his health for a potential Game 7 in San Antonio, and for the rest of the playoffs. And there will be a rest of the playoffs after the underdog Spurs (+8.5) routed the Rockets 114-75 in Houston on Thursday night. 

SN has all the stats from Game 6, and the highlights from the contest are below. 

NBA playoffs: Spurs vs. Rockets score, updates

Spurs vs. Rockets, Game 6

10:20: END OF THE FOURTH QUARTER: Spurs 114, Rockets 75. San Antonio advances to the Western Conference finals against the top-seeded Warriors.

10:17: TWOOOOO MINUTES REMAINING IN THE ROCKETS’ SEASON.

10:15: Harden exits with 3:15 to play. He finishes with 10 points, seven assists, six turnovers (and six fouls).

10:13: The Spurs’ third unit is in against most of the Rockets’ starters, including Harden.

10:04: Hello, garbage time: Under six to play, Spurs lead 104-72. Time to work on that Spurs-Warriors preview.

9:57: Garbage time rapidly approaches. The Spurs are up 94-66 at the first TV timeout of the quarter. 

9:51: ESPN puts up a graphic showing that the biggest fourth-quarter playoff comeback is 21 points. The Spurs immediately stretch the lead back to 25.

9:47: END OF THE THIRD QUARTER. Spurs 87, Rockets 63. If you forgot that the Spurs also have LaMarcus Aldridge, well . . .

Aldridge leads San Antonio with 28 points and 11 boards. Harden update: He now has 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and six turnovers. 

9:43: Kyle Anderson lobs to Dejounte Murray, and the Spurs go back up by 25 after a Rockets mini-run.

9:39: Ariza and Danny Green get tangled up on the sideline chasing a loose ball. Ariza sort of swings his arm toward Green. Both players receive techicals. 

9:35: We might have just seen the oldest pass-basket connection in NBA history: Ginobili (39) to Gasol (36).

9:30: Ariza follows with a 3 and Pop calls a quick TO with the Spurs up 71-49.

9:29: An Eric Gordon sighting! The Rockets guard is on the scoresheet with a 3.

9:25: Timeout, Rockets, after consecutive Aldridge buckets put the Spurs up 69-43. Aldridge has 22 for the game.

9:21: The second half is under way. To review, here’s James Harden’s first-half shot chart:

9:03: HALFTIME: Spurs 61, Rockets 42. San Antonio shot 56 percent from the floor, Houston 39 percent.

9:01: Harden is back on the bench with three fouls.

8:57: Timeout with four minutes to go in the half. The Spurs are up 53-35. Harden has as many turnovers as points (five). He has attempted just two field goals.

8:52: An extra pass from Gasol leads to a LaMarcus Aldridge elbow jumper. Spurs, man.

8:47: Another Simmons baseline J, and it’s 50-29. Harden responds with a 3.

8:44: Harden is back in.

8:42: Timeout, Rockets, after a Simmons bucket gives the Spurs a 44-26 lead. San Antonio has outscored Houston 13-2 over the first three minutes of the quarter with Harden resting.

8:37: Sam Dekker heat check scrapes the rim.

8:36: Pop played nice with Doris Burke during the between-quarters ESPN interview. Pop respects Doris.

8:34: END OF THE FIRST QUARTER: Spurs 31, Rockets 24.

8:33: Houston’s Sam Dekker gets the 3 game going with back-to-back treys. San Antonio was slow to rotate each time.

8:31: Manu Ginobili heat check, off the back iron and over the backboard.

8:30: Houston’s 3s-and-layups offense has been mostly layups, thanks in large part to the Spurs’ aggressive perimeter defense. Houston has attempted four 3-pointers in the first 10 1/2 minutes. It has made one, by Trevor Ariza. This is a team that has attempted 38.3 3s in its previous 10 playoff games. 

8:24: This is turning into the Jonathon Simmons Game; now a 3 from the left wing.

8:22: Simmons drives the middle of the lane and YAMS with both hands.

8:18: TV timeout; Spurs up 14-11.

8:16: James Harden is guarding Pau Gasol in the post, and Harden is actually defending.

8:13:  Leonard’s replacement, Simmons, makes his first basket, a 2 from the left baseline.

8:09: Late-arriving crowd for this 7 p.m. CT start in H-Town. Lots of red-covered empty seats in the lower bowl. Maybe they’re watching Astros-Yankees on TV.

8:08:  Jonathon Simmons is out for the opening tip, so no shenanigans with Kawhi.

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