San Antonio at Houston, final score: The Spurs lose to the Rockets in a duel, 100-127

The Spurs followed up one of their worst halves of the season in LA with an even worse first half at the home of the Houston Rockets, outscoring them 38-63 while shooting just 36% from the field with 12 turnovers and no one had more than six points. They put up a better fight in the third quarter, almost doubling their first half score with 33 points, but unfortunately they couldn’t get enough stops and each time the Rockets flirted with a comeback, taking the lead into the teens, they had one Answer. Finally, Mitch Johnson waved the white flag as the Spurs still have a game tomorrow, and they lost 100–127.

Six Spurs ended up scoring in double figures, led by an inefficient 15 points and 6 rebounds from Victor Wembanyama (we’ve already thought enough about what a matchup nightmare the Rockets are for him), and Julian Champagnie had 13 efficient points in the 3 -6 from three hits. Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green both scored 21 points, leading seven Rockets players in double figures.

Observations

• Amazing NBA scheduling logic: This is the third game against the Rockets in 12 days, which gives it a bit of a playoff series feel, not to mention they also played in the preseason. (Fortunately, they don’t have to play again until April.) Also consider this travel schedule for the Spurs over the last eight days: Oklahoma City, Utah, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Houston. That’s a lot of criss-crossing across the western half of the country and with time changes between each game. If the NBA’s goal is to reduce travel and keep players as fresh as possible, this is not the way to go.
• Stephon Castle made the first start of his young career, which is probably a good indicator that Julian Champagnie will remain in the starting lineup in place of Jeremy Sochan, who is expected to be out until January, and Devin Vassell will simply be brought back in Castle’s place when he returns from injury. The role change didn’t do much for Castle as he ended up scoring just 5 points on 2-8 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.
• Spurs’ turnover problems continued early in the game as they had five in the first five minutes and quickly found themselves outnumbered by double digits, something they never recovered from. They also seemed very stagnant on offense, at times lacking movement and cutting to the rim, which Sochan had provided. They continue to sorely miss Vassell’s ability to insult himself when nothing else is happening. The sooner he can get back (and that should be during the upcoming home game) the better.
• In this part of the big duel, Alperen Şengün played two pick-and-roll plays at Wemby Stadium in the first quarter and scored one goal. He later registered a close-range basket as he set position when Wemby arrived late. As the game continued, Wembanyama forced Şengün to commit a foul down the field as a helper and then denied his layup on the other side. Still, the Turkish midfielder outperformed his French counterpart by surpassing him in accuracy and he was a better playmaker for his teammates.
• Another result of Sochan’s absence was that Sandro Manukelashvili was used as a backup striker for some time, coming on alongside Wemby, whom he immediately found for an open layup with some high-low action. Unfortunately, apart from a three-pointer from Mamu after a pass from Wemby ran back to him and it faltered, there wasn’t much else between the pair, although they spent a fair amount of time on the pitch together. Still, I’m in favor of more Mamu minutes because the bench desperately needs his offense.
• Speaking of which, I really hope that Tre Jones is a big answer to the problems of the second unit (and therefore the return of Vassell). Without a designated ball handler and no serious outside threats, the bench offense consists primarily of players taking turns driving to the basket to force something while everyone else stands in coverage so that the driving player has no one to pass the ball to can. However, it is worth seeing. (Heck, the third line of Charles Bassey, Sidy Cissoko and the two-way players looked more competent offensively.)
• One stretch in the second half brought Wesley to the point: He missed a forced layup, made a three-pointer, then hesitated to make an open three-pointer on the next possession, instead driving ahead and losing the ball on an unforced turnover. While he’s a good offensive point defender, that’s not enough to make it to the NBA if he’s a net negative in all other aspects of the game. He has to take the shots he’s given, whether he takes them or not, to have any chance of finishing more than third.
• Green’s speed was a problem for the perimeter pests to stop with and without the ball. He hit four 3-pointers in nine attempts, shot at the rim twice and incurred several penalties against the Spurs. Fred VanVleet also decimated coverages with isolation plays, screen rolls with Şengün and a counter-attack maneuver. Overall, dribbling penetration and sharp passing destroyed Spurs’ central defense. The team gave up 66 numbers on 62.2 percent of attempts. It was a tough evening for both sides.

For the Rockets fans’ perspective, visit The Dream Shake.

The Spurs will be right back in action tomorrow night against the Portland Train Blazers, kicking off a five-game homestand. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm CT on FanDuel Sports Network, and you can also watch with us on Playback!