After a chaotic game with abundant three-pointers and a massive run by each team, the San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Houston Rockets last Saturday, Oct. 26 with a score of 109-106.
The battle between young superstars Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Green defined much of the game, both of whom scored 29 points and performed phenomenally across the board. With Tre Jones and Devin Vassell injured, the Spurs turned to veteran Chris Paul and rookie Stephon Castle for minutes at the guard positions.
Before the game, however, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expressed little interest in discussing much about basketball due to the impending election. Instead, he spoke at length about Donald Trump’s negative influence on youth. After this, Popovich discussed the logistics of managing a professional basketball team amidst a tumultuous political situation.
“Whether they [the players] want to hear it or not, I talk about it a lot,” Popovich said. “We bring in speakers to talk to them about various aspects of our society. … I think it brings them closer when they’re thinking about ideas bigger than basketball. Basketball’s pretty boring when you think about life in general and all the things that are going on in our world. They’re also very young. Try to think back to that age, you were pretty self-consumed. You’re a striver, you’re trying to do well. … And that’s most of your main focus. So … all the chaos … they see it, but it’s not debilitating or anything like that. It doesn’t make it harder to put a team together.”
As for the visitors, Rockets’ head coach Ime Udoka commented before the game on how the Rockets will adjust to this year’s Spurs lineup. He stated his confidence in their ability to adapt to the Spurs’ roster changes but acknowledged the Spurs’ new veteran presence.
“When you bring in the vets … Chris Paul and then Harrison [Barnes] and some of those guys … It elevates groups,” Udoka said. “Anytime we have a heady — Chris Paul specifically — … point guard that’s setting the table for guys and makes them a lot more efficient. You have to account for that of course, but we continue to do what we did against those guys last year, specifically Wembanyama and some of the young guys they have out there.”
The game’s intensity was high from the opening tip, with both teams scoring over 30 points in the first quarter. The Spurs and Rockets scored seven collective three-pointers within the first four minutes of the game, with Wembanyama and Rockets guard Fred VanVleet scoring two apiece.
As the game progressed, the Spurs veered away from the three-pointer, while the Rockets veered towards missing three-pointers rather than making them. In large part due to the Spurs’ defensive play, the Rockets went one for 10 on three-pointers and four for 23 on field goals overall in the second quarter, leading to the Spurs going into halftime with a 21-point lead.
In the third quarter, the Rockets managed to gather more steam offensively. The Rockets still struggled on threes but garnered enough momentum to cut the Spurs’ lead to 11 in the middle of the quarter before the Spurs ran the score back up again, closing out the quarter with a fadeaway buzzer-beater from Wembanyama to go up 87-69.
Another highlight of the second half was the aggressive play of Rockets’ forward Dillon Brooks, who ended the night with 16 points and five personal fouls. Additionally, Brooks controversially wrapped Wembanyama in what appeared to be a headlock early in the third quarter, causing a minor skirmish on the court and ire from the crowd.
Despite their successful run through three quarters, the fourth quarter was nearly catastrophic for the Spurs, as the Rockets mounted a massive comeback. This culminated in a Jalen Green and-one basket which cut the Spurs lead down to just one point, with the score at 100-99 with less than four minutes to play. After the game, Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds during the game, explained how the Rockets managed this run.
“I think one thing I noticed — of course, I’m gonna have to go back and watch the game — but they started playing small ball,” Sochan said. “They didn’t have a big guy on the court. So it’s a little difficult, we had to figure that out. We had a couple turnovers. They got out on the fast break. Sometimes there was miscommunication so they had threes. It’s definitely something we have to look back and learn from.”
Despite the comeback, the Spurs never relinquished their lead. Over the following minute of play neither team was able to score, until finally a pair of Wembanyama free throws and an incredible assist from Chris Paul to Sochan gave the Spurs a five point lead with one minute and 35 seconds left. A three point basket from Brooks cut the lead back down to two 10 seconds later, but the Spurs were able to drain the remaining clock and clinch a close victory.
Spurs guard and 2024 NCAA national champion Stephon Castle was entrusted with the ball during a significant portion of the closing minutes of the game. Afterwards, he gave his own explanation for the Rockets’ performance during the fourth quarter.
“I think they adjusted to what we were doing on their ball screens, kind of running them off the line,” Castle said. “We were in a lot of coverages with Vic[tor Wembanyama], they brought Vic in a lot of ball screens which caused a lot of trouble for them, so they started bringing more guard to guard screens to get him out of the action. It was something we just had to adjust to, and I’m happy we got it right at the right time.”
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, provided a more succinct explanation.
“They made a great run, and I feel like we just stayed together, weathered the storm and executed,” Johnson said.
