After a surprising defeat on Thursday against a Houston team with something to prove after the replacement of James Harden, the Spurs had their revenge. A strong fourth period was enough for San Antonio to take down the Rockets 103-91.
From the start, it looked like the Spurs were taking the game seriously, making some adjustments. DeMar DeRozan, quite passive in the previous confrontation, was in attack mode at the beginning and Christian Wood was defended by a perimeter player and not by LaMarcus Aldridge. None of the adjustments proved particularly effective, as Wood was still free or asked for help and made the right pass against a deflected San Antonio defense, while the Houston starters did a good job at the beginning of containing most of the goal threats from the But Spurs was nice to see the coaching staff making tactical changes instead of just relying on depth and talent against a severely insufficient opponent.
The hot external kicks boosted the Rockets’ strong start and sustained them for most of the first half, but problems began to appear to the visitors when the starters needed a break, as the second unit consisted of newcomer Rodions Kurucs, the offensively challenged David Nwaba and newcomer Kenyon Martin Jr. As the deficit approached double digits, the Spurs began to narrow, first with the help of a second unit that was bigger and more disciplined than Houston and then with a solid effort from beginners at the end of the second quarter. Had it not been for a horn from an excited Damon Jones, the score would have been tied at halftime.
As expected, the deeper Spurs gave a boost in the third quarter. Wood alone held them for a while, but eventually San Antonio took the lead. Unfortunately, the three points were not falling for Silver and Black exactly when they needed to create the separation. Both teams went back and forth on what was a very sloppy stretch, with the Rockets scoring enough to stay in the game, despite dealing with rotation problems and an almost paralyzing lack of kicking. Houston even regained the lead for a while, before two long balls from Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray put San Antonio back in control going into the final period.
As courageous as Houston’s attempt to steal yet another game lacking in Spurs manpower, it was also bound to fail. The Rockets refused to give in completely, but the Spurs kept them at bay for most of the fourth period. Gregg Popovich even kept Jakob Poeltl on the court instead of Aldridge to give the team a better defensive presence inside, which worked. Slowly but surely, the advantage grew to double digits, as Houston struggled to find a reliable source of scoring, while San Antonio, while never looking very sharp, had no problem putting points on the table. There was no late suspense or any chance of an upset, as the Spurs crossed for a comfortable victory.
Game notes
- DeMar DeRozan once again shot more than points against the Rockets, but tonight he pulled the trigger 25 times instead of just 14. Ideally DeRozan would find a better balance between putting off too early and throwing inefficiently, but he struggled to do that against Houston. He also seemed irritated by many calls over the past two games and received a technical assessment in this one. I hope he regains his form against the next opponent.
- Is it fair to be worried about Aldridge? He lost a lot of time with an injury and didn’t have a proper training ground to learn the team’s new style of play, so it’s tempting to give him a pass, but he’s been bad at both ends. Pop went with Poeltl (who had been getting off to a slow start this season) to close the game, and I was relieved. Jakob played his best game of the season against a Rockets team that didn’t have a support center and won those minutes, but Aldridge is supposed to be a big piece of the puzzle this year and it’s not a good sign that the team is looking significantly better when he’s off the ground.
- Spurs had the lowest total assist of the season. It’s not very surprising, since DeRozan was in scoring mode and it was tempting to just drive to the bucket in a Rockets defense that often lacked rim protection. There is also the fact that the three did not fall for most of the game, so this may have distorted the numbers. At least the turnover was not very high, although the offense did not seem acute. Houston had about the same amount of assists, but also 10 more twists, so maybe this time we gave the Spurs a pass, as it was a very ugly game.
- Dejounte Murray double-double with points and rebounds. He also made some trios and had some good defensive plays. Considering that Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson were merely decent and combined for only 19 points, the starters needed Murray to be aggressive and he delivered. Murray still has a lot of room to grow, but he has undoubtedly made a leap this season.
- The bank surpassed Houston’s by a significant margin, but aside from Poeltl, it wasn’t great. Patty Mills and Rudy Gay were not as efficient and Devin Vassell, while still showing immense defense potential, continued to fight with his shot from outside, missing his three long-range attempts (he only made one from beyond the bow in the past five games). Their combined work was sufficient against an exhausted second Rockets unit and it would be unfair to isolate them when almost everyone fought, but the Spurs will need more from the bank in the future.
- Rockets can be fun at full strength. The initial lineup of John Wall, Victor Oladipo, Danuel House, PJ Tucker, Christian Wood is solid and they can get minutes from DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon, in addition to other guys like Ben MacLemore, David Nwaba, Mason Jones and Jae ‘ Sean Tate – that was awful on Saturday, but great on Thursday. Swapping Tucker and Gordon makes sense, but if they keep them, the playoffs could be a real possibility for Houston.
Next game: @ Trail Blazer on Monday
The Blazers recently lost Jusuf Nurkic to injury and will start Enes Kanter, which means Spurs must attack the ledge. On the other hand, containing Lillard and McCollum will certainly be a challenge, but if San Antonio succeeds, a victory in Portland is not out of the question.