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The San Antonio Spurs traveled to Houston for their second preseason game and first on the road, and while far from perfect and still shorthanded, they did some things better than in the first pre-game. -season. After a solid 31-25 first quarter, turnovers and poor three-point shot plagued Spurs for the rest of the run and kept them from embarking on a consistent offense en route to a 112-98 loss. (although the “busted score” came mainly during a third-quarter battle of the third strings).
Observations
- I have a confession to make. I moved from San Antonio to Houston this summer, so now I’m a full time League Pass user when it comes to watching Spurs. Except when they play the Rockets, then I have to watch the Rockets broadcast because of the blackout restrictions. The idea that I may never hear Bill Land and Sean Elliott call a Spurs-Rockets game again is somewhat of a disappointment. The Rockets’ show was not the same, to put it in kind words. I can understand that Rockets announcers are confusing some Spurs players since it’s preseason, but the most embarrassing moment was when Bill Worrell mistook DeMar DeRozan for Luka Samanic and then blamed the afro. . .
- Speaking of Luka, for anyone who’s still waiting to see something from him, you’ll have to wait a little longer. He did not make the trip to Houston due to food poisoning and would not be coming for Thursday’s game either.
- As promised, Gregg Popovich started this game smaller, replacing Jakob Poeltl with Rocket killer Lonnie Walker IV in the starting lineup. Walker looked a lot looser than the first preseason game as he just returned from back spasms and quickly hit three of his top four lines. Overall, the entire starting unit played faster and looser compared to the Thunder game, and Spurs hit 6-13 of three in the first quarter (including one from DeRozan, which makes him 2-2 from outside the arch in preseason).
- Devin Vassell continued to impress early on. He scored six points in the first quarter on the bench, including a pull-up three on a screen and a smooth finish at the edge of the transition. He also played stalking defense and dived for loose balls. He wasn’t as flashy as the previous game, and obviously still has room to improve, but he was the only bright spot off the bench for the shorthanded Spurs in the first half. He replaced DeRozan in the starting lineup for the second half and had a final score line of 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.
- In a bit of a “it’s preseason, so why not?” move, Pop chose to counter the very small formation of Rockets coach Stephen Silas, consisting of five players of around 6’3 “to 6” 7 with a very large formation of Dejounte Murray, Devin Vassell, Rudy Gay , Trey Lyles and Jakob Poeltl in the second quarter. As you might expect, Spurs didn’t do much offensively with this roster, but the height difference between the two teams was comically noticeable.
- The addition of DeMarcus Cousins gave the Rockets something they haven’t had in recent seasons: a big scorer who is also a strong defenseman. John Wall, who looked pretty good for someone who just suffered a two-year layoff due to serious injuries, also provides another star guard buddy for Harden. The Beard would remain adamant that he wants to be traded, but he may secretly have the most complete squad he’s ever had in Houston.
- While they look better than when they opened pre-season, rebounds and turnovers were Spurs’ main issue in this one. Although they created 11 steals on their own, the Rockets had 12 themselves, most of which either came from picking Spurs’ pocket at the top of the key or just doing simple readings in the passing lanes. , which translated into a 19-10 advantage on the quick break. points. That, combined with the fact that Spurs cooled down three (4-18) after the first quarter, played a big part in their 87-67 win the rest of the game.
- It’s worth remembering that without Keldon Johnson and Derrick White it isn’t the typical Spurs squad we’ll see in the future. The sooner they come back the better, but in the meantime it will take some patience while everyone has more development time. The good thing is that Spurs showed improvement in some areas between the last game and this one, and during the preseason that’s all everyone should really care about.
For the Rockets fan perspective, visit The Dream Shake.
The Spurs will remain in Houston and conclude the preseason against the Rockets on Thursday. The tip will be at 7:00 p.m. CT on CW35.
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