Clint Capela stuffs Dejounte Murray at the rim (Video)
By John Buhler
The Houston Rockets need to get it together in Game 6. However, this block by center Clint Capela on San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray is a start.
Game 6 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals between the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs and the No. 3 Houston Rockets has so far been a rout in visiting San Antonio’s favor. Houston is down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, needing a win at home to force a Game 7 in San Antonio on Saturday night.
Despite not having to deal with the Spurs’ best player in small forward Kawhi Leonard, who is out with an ankle injury, this has not been the Rockets’ night. Houston might have a problem, but center Clint Capela had none whatsoever on this sweet block of Spurs rookie point guard Dejounte Murray.
Murray is doing his very best having to start in place of the injured Tony Parker. The Spurs are still one of the better teams in the NBA, but these injuries to key players like Leonard and Parker aren’t a good thing. Capela has improved drastically for the Rockets in 2016-17 and looks to be a future building block for the team going forward.
Replacing Dwight Howard at starting center in Houston was not going to be easy. While Howard’s departure to his hometown Atlanta Hawks didn’t hurt anybody in Houston’s feelings, there was some skepticism that Capela would be able to make this swift of a jump to the starting center role.
He has surpassed expectations, as Capela has been a key piece in the Rockets’ rise under first-year head coach Mike D’Antoni. The Rockets head coach notoriously hates centers, but does appreciate Capela’s ability to hustle up and down the court, as well as protect the rim.
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Murray will make plenty of layups throughout his NBA career, but he was hopelessly denied at the rim this time by Capela. That block got all the Toyota Center faithful out of their collective seats.