2017 NBA Playoffs, James Harden
May 11, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) loses control of the ball during the second quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in game six of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. USA TODAY Sports / Troy Taormina

Houston Rockets superstar James Harden has accepted full responsibility for his team's drastic collapse in Game 6 of the Western Conference semi-finals against the San Antonio Spurs. The MVP candidate came up short on Thursday as the Rockets suffered a 114-75 rout against a Spurs team that was without Kawhi Leonard (ankle injury) and starting point guard Tony Parker, who recently underwent a season-ending surgery for a a ruptured left quadriceps tendon.

Despite taking an early 1-0 series lead, the Rockets struggled to sustain the momentum against Gregg Popovich's experienced outfit. "You've got to take it for what it is. Everything falls on my shoulders. I take responsibility for it, both ends of the floor. You know, it's tough, especially the way we lost at home for Game 6. But it happened. Now we move forward," said Harden, who averaged a spectacular tally of 29.1 points, 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds during the regular season, via ESPN.

Though Harden posted a tally of 28.5 points, 8.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds during 11 postseason games, he wasn't nearly as efficient, making only 27 percent of his three-point shots. Harden manged to score 2.9 out of 10.5 attempted threes per game, the worst three-point shooting percentage during the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

2017 NBA Playoffs: James Harden suffers meltdown in Game 6

"I really just didn't have a rhythm at the beginning of the game. I feel like I was making some passes, and we just didn't knock down shots or whatever the case may be. As a team, as a unit, we didn't have a rhythm and they capitalized on that," added the 27-year-old shooting guard.

During Thursday's Game 6, Harden finished with a subpar tally of 10 points and 7 assists while attempting only 11 shots from 37 minutes on the court. San Antonio's wing duo of Danny Green and Jonathan Simmons played lockdown defence as Harden coughed up six turnovers. Harden acknowledged that San Antonio's defence stifled the life out of his team's offense, which ranked No. 2 during the regular season.,

"They did a really good job of crowding, showing bodies, the bigs at the rim, things like that," said Harden, who battled a cold earlier in the West semi-finals series but said he was "good" when asked about his health Tuesday night. "I couldn't really get a rhythm, especially to the basket. Pau [Gasol] did a really good job of using his length at the rim. So hats off to them."

The San Antonio Spurs will now square off against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals. Game 1 is on Sunday night at the Oracle Arena. Odds makers expect the Warriors to win the series but in a hard-fought series against a Spurs team that will have Kawhi Leonard back in the line up.