The Spurs made more shots than Houston on Friday night. They made more threes, too.
They still lost.
The Rockets beat San Antonio 114-110 on Friday, Oct. 23, at Moody Center in Austin, in front of 16,723, per the NBA.com box score. The Spurs are 0-2. Houston is 2-0.
Where the four points went
Ándale, let’s look at the numbers. San Antonio made 40 of 87 shots from the field to Houston’s 38 of 78, and 12 threes to Houston’s 10. Both teams turned it over 15 times.
The gap was at the line. Houston made 28 of 31 free throws (90.3%). The Spurs made 18 of 25 (72.0%). That is 10 more points from the stripe in a game decided by four.
Houston led at every break: 32-27 after one, 61-59 at the half, 85-81 after three. The fourth quarter finished 29-29, which is a very polite way to lose a game.
The stat lines
- Victor Wembanyama: 25 points, 13 rebounds, 9-of-21 shooting in 32 minutes.
- Dylan Harper: 20 points on 8-of-15 in 36 minutes, with zero turnovers. Bro, ¿qué?
- De’Aaron Fox: 19 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes, 5-of-5 at the line, but 5 turnovers.
- Stephon Castle: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists.
Fox and Keldon Johnson were both listed questionable on the NBA’s official injury report (Fox with a right wrist sprain, Johnson with a mouth laceration). Both played; Johnson had 8 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. Tobias Harris was listed out with a left calf strain.
For Houston, Alperen Sengun had 29, Kevin Durant had 20 and went 8-for-8 at the line, and Amen Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
No time to sulk: the Spurs play again tonight, Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m. Central in Dallas.
Stay hydrated, stay curious, stay off 410 at 5pm. — Nico