Spurs strike late to beat shorthanded Rockets

After a surprising loss Thursday against a team from Houston with something to prove following the exchange of James Harden, the Spurs took their revenge. A solid fourth quarter was enough for San Antonio to defeat the Rockets 103-91.

From the start it seemed like Spurs were taking this game seriously, making some adjustments. DeMar DeRozan, largely passive in the previous game, was in attack mode from the start and Christian Wood was guarded by a perimeter, not LaMarcus Aldridge. Neither of the two adjustments proved particularly effective, as Wood was always free or drawing help and making the right pass against an untargeted San Antonio defense while the Houston starters did a good job early on for contain most of Spurs’ scoring threats, but it was good to see the coaches making some tactical changes instead of relying solely on depth and talent against a severely under-equipped opponent.

Hot shots on the outside fueled a strong start for the Rockets and supported them for most of the first half, but problems began to appear for the visitors when their starters needed a break as their second unit consisted of the recently arrived Rodions Kurucs, the offensive- challenged David Nwaba and rookie Kenyon Martin Jr. As the deficit approached double digits, Spurs began to crumble, first with the assist from a larger and more disciplined second unit than Houston’s, then with a solid effort from the starters later in the second. trimester. Without a buzzer-beater by a scorching Damon Jones, the score would have been tied at half-time.

As expected, the deeper Spurs pushed in the third quarter. Wood alone held them back for a while, but eventually San Antonio took the lead. Sadly, the Three Pointers didn’t fall in love with the Silver and Black just when they needed them to create a split. Both teams went back and forth over what was a very sloppy stretch, with the Rockets managing enough points to stay in the game despite spinning issues and an almost crippling lack of shot creation. Houston even regained the lead for a while before two long balls from Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray returned control to San Antonio before the final period.

As courageous as Houston’s attempt to steal another shorthanded game from Spurs was, it was also doomed. The Rockets refused to let go completely, but the Spurs kept them at bay for most of the fourth quarter. Gregg Popovich even kept Jakob Poeltl on the pitch above Aldridge to give the team a better defensive presence on the inside, which worked. Slowly but steadily the lead grew to double digits as Houston struggled to find a reliable scoring source while San Antonio, though never looking particularly sharp, had no problem putting in points on the board. There was no late suspense or chance of upset, as Spurs headed for a comfortable victory.

Play Notes

• DeMar DeRozan once again had one more shot than he had points against the Rockets, but that night he pulled the trigger 25 times instead of just 14. Ideally, DeRozan would strike a better balance between the postponement too early and ineffective tightening, but he struggled to do that against Houston. He also looked edgy on calls in the last two games and got some technique in this one. Hopefully he will regain his form against the next opponent.
• Is it fair to be worried about Aldridge? He’s missed a lot of time due to injury and hasn’t really had a proper training camp to learn the team’s new style of play, so it’s tempting to give him a pass, but he has been bad on both sides. Pop went with Poeltl (who had had a slow start this season) to close the game, and I was relieved. Jakob had his best game of the season against a Rockets team that didn’t have a backup center and won those minutes, but Aldridge is supposed to be a big piece of the puzzle this year and that’s not a good sign. that the team looks noticeably better when he’s off the ground.
• Spurs had their lowest assists tally of the season. This isn’t too surprising since DeRozan was in score mode and it was tempting to just drive all the way to the bucket on a Rockets tusk that often lacked rim protection.There is also the fact that the three did not fall off. not for most of the game, so that could have skewed the numbers. At least the turnovers weren’t too high, even though the attack didn’t look sharp. Houston had about the same number of assists but also 10 more turnovers, so maybe this time around we give Spurs a pass because it was such an ugly game.
• Dejounte Murray made a double-double with points and rebounds. He also made two or three threes and had some good defensive plays. Considering Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson were just decent and combined for just 19 points, the starters needed Murray to be aggressive and he delivered. Murray still has plenty of room to develop, but he’s undoubtedly made a leap this season.
• The bench outscored Houston by a significant margin but other than Poeltl it wasn’t great. Patty Mills and Rudy Gay weren’t that efficient and Devin Vassell, though still showing immense potential in defense, continued to struggle with his outside shot, missing his three long-range attempts (he made just one in -beyond the arc in the past. five games). Their combined work was enough against a worn out second Rockets unit and it would be unfair to single them out when just about everyone has struggled, but Spurs will need more from the bench going forward.
• The Rockets could be fun at full power. A starting 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, as well as other guys like Ben MacLemore, David Nwaba, Mason Jones and Jae’Sean Tate – which was awful Saturday but great Thursday. The exchange of Tucker and Gordon makes sense, but if they keep them, the playoffs could be a real possibility for Houston.

Next match: @ Trail Blazer Monday

The Blazers recently lost Jusuf Nurkic to injury and will start Enes Kanter, which means Spurs should attack the rim. On the other side, containing Lillard and McCollum will surely be a challenge, but if San Antonio can do it, a victory in Portland is not out of the question.