San Antonio can’t complete fourth quarter turnaround in loss to Rockets
Spurs can’t overcome Rocket’s stifling defense in second-straight loss to Houston.
The Houston Rockets have proven to be quite the formidable rival for the San Antonio Spurs this season. Their physical style of play has given the Spurs issues in two straight losses. On Tuesday night, it seemed the Spurs did a better job of countering their punches, but couldn’t complete a fourth quarter comeback in a 103-101 loss.
From the start of the game, the Rockets’ strategy was clear: make anyone but Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell hurt us. They doubled Wembanyama on every catch, chased Vassell off the three-point line and sent an extra defender on his drives. With the other Spurs, they sagged off them and forced them to make three-pointers. It’s a similar strategy other teams have run later in the season, but Houston’s style is exacerbated by their physicality.
Their defense opened up holes for Tre Jones, who was often left wide open from three, or ignored on cuts. Jones led all scorers with 24 points, and he added in 5 assists and 2 steals. The point guard isn’t known for his three-point shooting ability, but he hit them with confidence on Tuesday. Jones finished the game hitting 4 of his 7 threes.
“Tre’s a consummate competitor,” said Spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich. “He’s going to do anything he can to win a game.”
The Rockets defense successfully took Wembanyama and Vassell out of the game with their strategy and physicality. Wembanyama finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Vassell, was just 2-6 from the field, finishing with 6 points and 6 assists.
“A lot of little guys can get into a big guy and make it tough,” Popovich said. “They double teamed him every time (he got the ball.) If he’s going to be guarded that way, other people need to get involved.”
One player who stepped up when the Spurs got into an offensive slog in the third quarter was Jeremy Sochan. He scored ten straight points in the third (including two straight threes,) helping the Spurs get back into the game. Sochan finished the game with 21 points and 8 rebounds.
Despite being down to start the fourth quarter, the Spurs came out on a tear. Wembanyama had five straight points, and Sandro Mamukelashvili was a monster on the offensive glass, securing extra opportunities for the Spurs. A cold stretch from the 8-minute mark to about the 4-minute mark allowed the Rockets to build a 9-point lead, their largest of the game.
San Antonio would cut it down to one-point, thanks to timely buckets by Vassell and Sochan. However, the Spurs got into a fouling game down a possession with under a minute to go. Ime Udoka ordered his team to foul up three points, not allowing the Spurs to get a three-point look off to tie the game. Eventually, the Spurs found themselves needing to intentionally miss a free throw to give themselves a chance. They couldn’t secure the offensive board and the Rockets ran away with the victory.
That’s two-straight losses for the Spurs as they head to Austin, Texas for a two-game series in the state’s capitol. They’ll face Denver on Friday and the Nets on Sunday. They’ll look to grab another victory on neutral court later this week.
Game Notes:
- The Spurs hot-shooting came back to earth a bit against Houston. San Antonio shot 30.6% from three on 36 attempts. Malaki Branham, who was seemingly automatic from deep after the All-Star break, went 0-4 from deep and had just 4 points in the loss.
- Blake Wesley continues to give good energy off the bench as the back-up point guard. He had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists on Tuesday. The guard has been electric in the open floor, adept at finding open cutters and has gotten smarter at finding holes to finish at the rim. Popovich told reporters in the postgame press conference that Wesley’s energy is his key skill.
- Dominick Barlow and Wembanyama logged just 4 minutes together on Tuesday, but they were largely ineffective. The Spurs were scoreless in that stretch, and neither made a big impact offensively. The spacing is awkward with two bigs that do their best work in the paint. That’s made worse by Houston’s suffocating defense. Barlow has earned minutes with Cedi Osman and Keldon Johnson missing time. Popovich just needs to find the best lineup to plug him into.
