Rockets beat Spurs 93-82 and send San Antonio to its franchise-record 17th straight loss
HOUSTON (AP) On the night the San Antonio Spurs set a franchise record with their 17th consecutive loss, rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama wasn't hanging his head.
The top overall pick was instead looking ahead to brighter days that he knows are in store for his team.
“Of course it’s not easy, but we don’t have a choice,” he said. “Keep going, keep grinding. The good thing is nobody doubts that in the long run we’re going to be the winners. ... I hate losing, but I stay focused on the long run goal.”
Tari Eason had a season-high 18 points and 14 rebounds off the bench as the Houston Rockets got the 93-82 win on Monday to keep San Antonio winless since a 132-121 victory over Phoenix on Nov. 2.
Wembanyama had 15 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks, along with an overpowering dunk over Houston's Alperen Sengun in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to get the Spurs back in the win column.
The Rockets won their 10th straight home game and third in a row overall.
“Didn’t play our best offensively, but really relied on our defense,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said.
A tip-in by Wembanyama got San Antonio within four points with about four minutes remaining. Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer for Houston seconds later before Sengun blocked a shot at the other end to give the Rockets the ball back.
Eason added a dunk to stretch Houston's lead to 86-77 with three minutes left. The Spurs called a timeout, but it didn’t help as Houston used a 5-2 run, with another 3 by VanVleet, to make it 91-79 with less than a minute left.
Udoka raved about Eason's performance.
“He impacted the game a ton of ways,” he said. “Getting all the loose balls, hitting big shots. We needed a little spark there and he gave it.”
VanVleet added 16 points and Sengun had 15 for the Rockets.
San Antonio shot 5 of 41 (12%) from 3-point distance. Keldon Johnson missed all nine of his long distance shots and Devin Vassell went 1 for 9.
“I just feel badly - it’s hard to know what to do when you’re missing that many shots,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It just makes it very, very difficult. But they’re growing in all kinds of ways and I just wish they could catch a break that way as far as making some shots.”
Johnson said the losing streak has been difficult, but that he's remaining positive.
“I’m a competitor I want to win,” he said. “... I will not change who I am as a person because we’re losing.”
The Rockets held an eight-point lead after a basket by Eason with about nine minutes to go. A 7-3 run by San Antonio, with the first four points from Vassell, cut the lead to 77-73 with about 6½ minutes left.
The Spurs used a 6-0 run to tie it early in the third, but Houston got 3s from Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. on consecutive possessions to start an 8-0 spurt that gave the Rockets a 61-53 lead.
Aaron Holiday made a 3-pointer to push Houston’s lead to 10 points late in the third quarter before the Spurs made the last three points of the quarter, with a shot from Wembanyama, to get within 69-62 entering the fourth.
Rookie Amen Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the draft, had two points and five rebounds in his return after missing the last 13 games with a sprained right ankle.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host the first of consecutive home games against the Lakers on Wednesday.
Rockets: Host Memphis on Wednesday.
---
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
12:00 | Victor Wembanyama vs. Alperen Sengun (Malaki Branham gains possession) | |||
11:49 | +2 | Jeremy Sochan makes two point turnaround jump shot (Malaki Branham assists) | 2-0 | |
11:23 | Alperen Sengun misses two point fadeaway jump shot | |||
11:21 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
11:16 | Victor Wembanyama turnover (out of bounds step) | |||
11:05 | Alperen Sengun misses two point hook shot | |||
11:03 | Alperen Sengun offensive rebound | |||
10:58 | Jabari Smith Jr. misses two point jump shot | |||
10:57 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
10:47 | Keldon Johnson misses three point jump shot | |||
10:45 | Jabari Smith Jr. defensive rebound | |||
10:30 | Alperen Sengun misses two point driving reverse layup | |||
10:28 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
10:23 | Victor Wembanyama turnover (out of bounds bad pass) | |||
10:15 | Jalen Green misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
10:14 | Jeremy Sochan defensive rebound | |||
10:06 | +2 | Malaki Branham makes two point cutting layup (Keldon Johnson assists) | 4-0 | |
10:06 | Alperen Sengun shooting foul (Malaki Branham draws the foul) | |||
10:06 | +1 | Malaki Branham makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 5-0 | |
9:53 | Dillon Brooks misses two point hook shot | |||
9:52 | Dillon Brooks offensive rebound | |||
9:51 | Victor Wembanyama blocks Dillon Brooks's two point hook shot | |||
9:48 | Malaki Branham defensive rebound | |||
9:40 | Keldon Johnson turnover (bad pass) (Alperen Sengun steals) | |||
9:34 | Dillon Brooks misses three point jump shot | |||
9:30 | Jabari Smith Jr. offensive rebound | |||
9:28 | +3 | Fred VanVleet makes three point jump shot (Jabari Smith Jr. assists) | 5-3 | |
9:12 | Keldon Johnson misses three point jump shot | |||
9:09 | Alperen Sengun defensive rebound | |||
9:05 | +2 | Fred VanVleet makes two point running layup (Alperen Sengun assists) | 5-5 | |
8:51 | Victor Wembanyama misses three point jump shot | |||
8:49 | Jalen Green defensive rebound | |||
8:37 | Fred VanVleet misses three point jump shot | |||
8:35 | Jeremy Sochan defensive rebound | |||
8:25 | Jabari Smith Jr. personal foul (Victor Wembanyama draws the foul) | |||
8:22 | +3 | Victor Wembanyama makes three point jump shot (Devin Vassell assists) | 8-5 | |
7:57 | +2 | Alperen Sengun makes two point driving layup (Fred VanVleet assists) | 8-7 | |
7:34 | Jeremy Sochan misses three point jump shot | |||
7:33 | Rockets defensive rebound | |||
7:23 | Jalen Green misses two point driving floating jump shot | |||
7:22 | Malaki Branham defensive rebound | |||
7:16 | +2 | Malaki Branham makes two point driving reverse layup (Jeremy Sochan assists) | 10-7 | |
6:57 | Keldon Johnson shooting foul (Jabari Smith Jr. draws the foul) | |||
6:57 | Rockets 60 second timeout | |||
6:57 | +1 | Jabari Smith Jr. makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 10-8 | |
6:57 | +1 | Jabari Smith Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 10-9 | |
6:38 | Jeremy Sochan misses two point fadeaway jump shot | |||
6:36 | Jabari Smith Jr. defensive rebound | |||
6:22 | Jalen Green misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
6:19 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
6:07 | Devin Vassell misses three point jump shot | |||
6:03 | Jalen Green defensive rebound | |||
5:49 | Dillon Brooks misses two point driving finger roll layup | |||
5:47 | Devin Vassell defensive rebound | |||
5:39 | Keldon Johnson misses three point jump shot | |||
5:37 | Fred VanVleet defensive rebound | |||
5:27 | +2 | Jabari Smith Jr. makes two point cutting dunk (Dillon Brooks assists) | 10-11 | |
5:10 | +2 | Victor Wembanyama makes two point driving floating jump shot (Malaki Branham assists) | 12-11 | |
5:02 | Dillon Brooks misses two point driving layup | |||
5:00 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
4:55 | Victor Wembanyama misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
4:53 | Jabari Smith Jr. defensive rebound | |||
4:38 | Victor Wembanyama blocks Alperen Sengun's two point hook shot | |||
4:35 | Devin Vassell defensive rebound | |||
4:30 | Keldon Johnson turnover (lost ball) (Fred VanVleet steals) | |||
4:26 | Dillon Brooks turnover (lost ball) (Keldon Johnson steals) | |||
4:23 | Victor Wembanyama misses three point jump shot | |||
4:21 | Dillon Brooks defensive rebound | |||
4:13 | Alperen Sengun turnover (out of bounds bad pass) | |||
4:07 | Spurs 60 second timeout | |||
4:02 | Zach Collins turnover (bad pass) (Alperen Sengun steals) | |||
3:54 | Fred VanVleet misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
3:52 | Rockets offensive rebound | |||
3:52 | Zach Collins personal foul (Loose ball) (Alperen Sengun draws the foul) | |||
3:40 | Alperen Sengun misses two point turnaround hook shot | |||
3:39 | Keldon Johnson defensive rebound | |||
3:28 | Cedi Osman misses three point jump shot | |||
3:26 | Tari Eason defensive rebound | |||
3:18 | +2 | Jae'Sean Tate makes two point driving reverse layup (Tari Eason assists) | 12-13 | |
2:59 | Tre Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
2:58 | Alperen Sengun defensive rebound | |||
2:50 | Julian Champagnie shooting foul (Aaron Holiday draws the foul) | |||
2:50 | +1 | Aaron Holiday makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 12-14 | |
2:50 | +1 | Aaron Holiday makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 12-15 | |
2:36 | Zach Collins misses two point hook shot | |||
2:33 | Tari Eason defensive rebound | |||
2:27 | Tari Eason misses two point turnaround fadeaway jump shot | |||
2:25 | Zach Collins defensive rebound | |||
2:11 | Zach Collins misses two point turnaround hook shot | |||
2:08 | Jeff Green defensive rebound | |||
1:56 | Jalen Green misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
1:54 | Cedi Osman defensive rebound | |||
1:51 | Jalen Green personal foul (Tre Jones draws the foul) | |||
1:37 | +2 | Cedi Osman makes two point driving layup | 14-15 | |
1:22 | Aaron Holiday misses two point driving floating jump shot | |||
1:19 | Cedi Osman defensive rebound | |||
1:11 | +2 | Cedi Osman makes two point driving floating jump shot | 16-15 | |
1:11 | Aaron Holiday shooting foul (Cedi Osman draws the foul) | |||
1:11 | +1 | Cedi Osman makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 17-15 | |
0:57 | Tari Eason misses three point jump shot | |||
0:55 | Julian Champagnie defensive rebound | |||
0:47 | +3 | Doug McDermott makes three point jump shot (Tre Jones assists) | 20-15 | |
0:36 | +3 | Jalen Green makes three point pullup jump shot | 20-18 | |
0:28 | Jeff Green shooting foul (Tre Jones draws the foul) | |||
0:28 | Tre Jones misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
0:28 | Spurs offensive rebound | |||
0:28 | +1 | Tre Jones makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 21-18 | |
0:05 | Zach Collins shooting foul (Alperen Sengun draws the foul) | |||
0:05 | Alperen Sengun misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
0:05 | Rockets offensive rebound | |||
0:05 | +1 | Alperen Sengun makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 21-19 | |
0:00 | Cedi Osman misses two point driving floating jump shot | |||
0:00 | Spurs offensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |
Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
11:44 | Jabari Smith Jr. misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
11:43 | Jeff Green offensive rebound | |||
11:43 | Victor Wembanyama shooting foul (Jeff Green draws the foul) | |||
11:43 | +1 | Jeff Green makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 21-20 | |
11:43 | +1 | Jeff Green makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 21-21 | |
11:28 | +2 | Cedi Osman makes two point cutting layup (Victor Wembanyama assists) | 23-21 | |
11:07 | +2 | Jeff Green makes two point driving floating jump shot | 23-23 | |
11:07 | Victor Wembanyama shooting foul (Jeff Green draws the foul) | |||
11:07 | Spurs 60 second timeout | |||
11:07 | +1 | Jeff Green makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 23-24 | |
10:51 | Victor Wembanyama misses two point turnaround fadeaway jump shot | |||
10:48 | Amen Thompson defensive rebound | |||
10:43 | Jeff Green misses three point jump shot | |||
10:40 | Jabari Smith Jr. offensive rebound | |||
10:35 | +2 | Tari Eason makes two point driving layup | 23-26 | |
10:35 | Cedi Osman shooting foul (Tari Eason draws the foul) | |||
10:35 | Tari Eason misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
10:35 | Victor Wembanyama defensive rebound | |||
10:17 | Victor Wembanyama turnover (lost ball) (Tari Eason steals) | |||
10:13 | +2 | Amen Thompson makes two point running layup (Jabari Smith Jr. assists) | 23-28 | |
10:00 | +2 | Victor Wembanyama makes two point dunk (Malaki Branham assists) | 25-28 | |
9:36 | +2 | Tari Eason makes two point driving dunk | 25-30 | |
9:26 | Keldon Johnson misses three point jump shot | |||
9:25 | Amen Thompson defensive rebound | |||
9:08 | +2 | Jabari Smith Jr. makes two point driving layup | 25-32 | |
9:07 | Spurs 60 second timeout | |||
8:50 |