Keldon Johnson scored 32 to lead seven Spurs in double figures as San Antonio ended the second-longest losing streak in franchise history.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs (7-18) snapped the second-longest losing streak in franchise history with a 118-109 win over the Rockets.
Keldon Johnson scored 32 and Tre Jones added 25 to lead seven Spurs in double figures. Even against an opponent like Houston, the Spurs had a tough task ahead of them with an incredibly long injury report. Devin Vassell, Jakob Poeltl, Jeremy Sochan, and Keita Bates-Diop were all out for this one.
“Were a team at this point in our progression, we have to have all our bodies. It’s tough on these guys the way the team is right now, and having to compete at this level if three or four or five of them are out, it’s really a difficult task for them,” Gregg Popovich said before the game. “The good news is, their spirits are unbelievable. They just keep going. They don’t stop, but we need to have the game be like 38 minutes long, not 48. It’s that sort of situation because eventually all of a sudden we’re going to get a cold spell or we’re going to turn it over, and then we get into deep trouble. We’re not built to come back from those kinds of deficits.”
GAME STORY
First Quarter
Romeo Langford and Malaki Branham both started for an injury-riddled Spurs team.
Keldon Johnson looked motivated out of the gate, driving through the defense multiple times for layups and a thunderous dunk through a foul.
Zach Collins hit a pair of buckets in close as well, and Tre Jones turned a sick behind-the-back dribble into an easy layup before draining a rare stepback three.
On the other end, Houston also scored with ease. Alperen Sengun got busy in the paint and got a good start toward a potential triple double with 8 points, 5 boards and 2 dimes in the first.
Josh Richardson got into the game and hit a pull-up jumper, then Doug McDermott came in.
Houston looked thoroughly disinterested in rebounding, giving the Spurs plenty of extra chances.
Keldon hit a jumper off an assist from Charles Bassey, then crossed, drove, and returned the favor for a Bassey bucket inside. A few possessions later, he crept in for another angry dunk off a feed from Isaiah Roby.
Bassey soared for a huge block that got a rise out of the crowd. Houston continued to score as San Antonio slowed a bit, and the Rockets led 29-24 after the first.
Second Quarter
Houston gifted a turnover to the Spurs, and Tre Jones took it coast to coast for a creative lay-in. A few possessions later he glided to the cup after crossing two defenders into each other. Then, he dribbled into another triple.
Romeo Langford got on the board with a couple of driving floaters. On the other end, it took the Rockets four minutes to get their first bucket. Jones again drove the length of the floor and dished to Keldon, who again dunked it. Johnson then posted up rookie Jabari Smith Jr. and floated in a hook shot over him.
J-Rich picked and popped for McDermott, who found him for an easy three.
Keldon watched a teammate cut baseline, considered the pass but crossed away from it, then crossed back once his teammate finished his cut and cleared that side of the floor. Again, he laid it in with ease.
Bassey blocked another shot, and Jones laid it up again.
Johnson got an open corner three right in front of the Spurs bench, and his teammates rose to their feet as he rose up for the shot and drilled it. It was his first attempt from outside the paint, and his ninth make in nine tries.
It was tied at 51, but Jalen Green drilled a difficult three to beat the halftime buzzer. He was one of four Rockets in double figures at the break.
Keldon led all scorers with 19, and Jones was right behind him with 17.
Third Quarter
Romeo Langford opened the second-half scoring for the Spurs with a triple, then he assisted on a layup by Zach Collins.
Tre Jones hit his third triple of the game, giving him 20 points. Keldon jacked one up with a hand in his face and joined him, then Jones fed Branham for a three to knot things up at 65. Keldon untied it with another three from the corner, and the Rockets called timeout.
Collins blocked a shot on one end, then trailed for an easy dunk on the other. He got shaken up when he jumped in front of a fast moving Sengun freight train, who yammed a poster on him but got called for an offensive foul. Houston challenged it, but it stood after a lengthy review.
Collins went to the locker room and Bassey made things difficult for Sengun in the post, forcing a miss and then blocking him before diming Josh Richardson on a three. J-Rich returned the favor, lobbing it up to the big man for an alley-oop dunk to give San Antonio a 77-69 lead. Bassey stuffed another shot, his fourth of the game.
McDermott hit back-to-back triples to put the Spurs up 14. Tre Jones drove through the D for a nasty layup, but the Rockets answered with a dunk. The Spurs led 90-77 heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Collins returned to the game after his scary fall, and laid it in off a post up. Romeo Langford drove in for another score, adding to a productive night. McDermott got fouled on a triple and hit all of them to put the Spurs in front by 17.
Houston got a few makes in a row, but McBuckets hit from deep again. Bassey hit a jumper from the free throw line, then Langford jumped a passing lane and finished a finger roll in transition. Bassey got fouled on a putback attempt, and hit both to get into double figures.
Richardson drained another triple to put the Spurs up 20 with just over 6 minutes to play. Keldon drove, pumped and scored inside. He crossed, eurostepped through contact and finished off the glass with his left.
Houston put Boban into the game, and he scored in the post on consecutive possessions much to the delight of the fans in attendance. He did cut the Spurs’ lead to 12 with three minutes left, though, making things less comfortable.
Keldon posted up and scored to reclaim some breathing room, but the Rockets cut it to 10. Boban got an almost standing dunk to cut it to 9, but he ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Johnson finished with a game-high 32 points, followed by Jones with 25 to lead seven Spurs in double figures. San Antonio snapped the second-longest losing streak in franchise history with the 118-109 win.
PREVIOUS GAME
The Spurs are coming off a 133-95 home loss versus the Suns.
Keldon Johnson had 27 points and five rebounds to lead the team while Devin Vassell added 14 points. Tre Jones finished with 10 points and three assists while Keita Bates-Diop recorded 12 points.
Gregg Popovich did not coach and Brett Brown filled in as head coach.
“I thought that in the second period we came out and were competitive. In that period in general, we had a hard time getting stops. Mostly, their ability to get inside the paint. We rotate, and they get drop-off pass, after drop-off pass, after drop-off pass to their big guys,” Brown said. “But, when you go backward and look at what happened. When you get beat on the first line of our defense, we had to rotate, and we didn’t have the second piece of the puzzle of one more rotation.”
PRACTICE REPORT
Zach Collins talks about a “chippy” practice ahead of today’s game versus Houston.
LOCKED ON SPURS PREVIEWS SPURS-ROCKETS
INJURY REPORT
THE UNIFORMS
The Spurs will be in their City Edition jerseys tonight.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH:
1. The Spurs have eight-consecutive games with a lower three-point percentage than their opponent.
2. The Spurs have been outrebounded in three-straight games.
3. In two December games, the Spurs are averaging 97.0 points per game.
4. The Rockets have outrebounded their opponents in three-straight games.
5. The Rockets are 1-10 on the road when trailing after the third period.
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