The San Antonio Spurs came into Houston after blowing big leads in back-to-back losses against the New Orleans Pelicans. They never led the game on Wednesday night as the Spurs were dominated by the Houston Rockets for 48 minutes in a 118-106 loss.
The Rockets jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back, eventually ballooning the difference to 28 points in the third. Houston punished the Spurs for their lack of size and physicality. They got easy drives to the basket and dominated on the offensive glass. Houston snatched 20 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Spurs 60-41. The Rockets swarming defense was way too much for the Spurs, who shot 42% from the field and 17.9% from three.
San Antonio was led by Keldon Johnson, who was one of the few bright spots for the Spurs in the loss. He had 22 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 8-13 from the field. Houston’s breakout sophomore, Amen Thompson, was unstoppable as he led all scorers with 25 points and added in 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. Jalen Green chipped in 21 points and 7 rebounds for Houston.
The Spurs officially lost the season series with the Rockets 1-3. They have just one more game on the rodeo road trip as they head to Graceland for a game with the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
Observations:
Jeremy Sochan took a blow to the head in the second half and had to leave the game. According to the Spurs, Sochan missed the rest of the game for “precautionary reasons.”
Houston’s starters outscored the Spurs starters 83-27. Thompson was two points shy of tying the Spurs starters’ total scoring.
Stephon Castle played 30 minutes on Wednesday after playing just 9 against the Pelicans on Tuesday. He still struggled, getting most of his numbers in garbage time as he tallied 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 assists on 9-22 shooting from the field. He was disruptive defensively at the point of attack and made some strong plays protecting the rim.
Blake Wesley got a bit of run in the first half while Castle sat. The majority of his playing time came in garbage time. He had 5 points and 4 assists in 11 minutes.
De’Aaron Fox struggled again after the Pelicans held him to just 15 points on Tuesday night. The newly acquired point guard had 7 points and 3 assists on 3-12 shooting from the field.
After the loss, the Spurs have now lost 7 straight games on the second game of a back-to-back.