Game 2: Spurs 109, Rockets 106

The Spurs built a 22 point lead Saturday against the Rockets, but after Houston got within 1 point, the Spurs held on in crunch time for the 3-point win.

The San Antonio Spurs (1-1) won their first game of the season and home opener, as they narrowly held on for a 109-106 win against the Houston Rockets Saturday.

“They’re wars out there,” said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich of the Spurs holding on for the close win. “Any win is a great win.”

This is the story of a game

1. Both teams came out of the gate playing at a frenetic pace and trying to outduel each other from the 3-point line. The Spurs opened their first double digit lead of the season during the quarter. When the first quarter ended, the Spurs led by 7 points.

2. In the second quarter, the Spurs used elite defense to close off the paint for Houston, and the Rockets went OVER 9 minutes without scoring a single point. During that time the Spurs led by as many as 22 points in the middle of an 18-0 run. When halftime sounded, the Rockets had scored just 10 points in the quarter and the Spurs went into the locker room with a 21 point lead.

3. In the third quarter, Houston got within 11 of San Antonio, but the Spurs ended the quarter well, leading by 18 going into the final period.

4. In the fourth, Houston ALMOST made the comeback. The Rockets got within 1 point of the Spurs, and the game went down to crunch time. The new-look Spurs made their free throws and got stops in crunch time to hold on for the 3-point win.

“It’s definitely good to win,” said Keldon Johnson after the game. “Down the stretch, we executed down the stretch and made some winning plays.”

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Tre Jones Injury Update

Before continuing the analysis of the game, the Spurs had an injury update prior to tip-off.

In his pregame press conference, Coach Pop said backup point guard Tre Jones (right ankle sprain) could be out up to two weeks.

“It’ll be a couple of weeks, two I hope. Just two I hope.”

As Saturday showed, Jones’ injury will mean increased minutes for Stephon Castle, Blake Wesley, and Malaki Branham.

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Crunch time Breakdown

Going into crunch time, the Spurs held a 6-point lead. In those final five minutes, the Spurs were outscored by the Rockets 14-11, but they still had a 3-point cushion for the win.

Here were some notes and observations from crunch time.

• Coach Pop went with a closing five of Chris Paul, Castle, Keldon, Jeremy Sochan, and Victor Wembanyama. When it became a situation where the Rockets were going to intentionally foul the Spurs, Harrison Barnes checked in for Sochan, since Barnes is a more reliable free throw shooter.

• During those final five minutes, the trio of Wemby, Keldon, and Castle knocked down their free throws, going 9-of-10 from the foul line under pressure. Castle missed 1 of his last 2 free throws, but his make was still enough to give the Spurs the 3-point lead.

• The fact that Castle was in crunch time shows how much the team already has trust in the young guard. The Spurs needed him on the floor for his perimeter defense, and he did just that, playing excellent on-ball defense against Fred Van Vleet. But then on offense, he wasn’t afraid to go and get the ball, get up to the line, and take the free throws.

• “Being out there late game, is just credit to my defense,” said Castle of how he felt about getting minutes in the first crunch time game of the season.

• In the final five minutes, the Spurs had a tough time stopping the dribble penetration of Jalen Green. Green would use the high pick-and-roll to get passed the Spurs’ defenders and get to the rim, or he would be able to draw in the Spurs’ defense, and kick out to a shooter like Dillon Brooks.

• Castle mentioned how the Rockets went away from bigs setting screens, because Wemby was causing trouble for Houston. Instead, Houston went to guard-to-guard screens. Castle said that worked for a bit, and it especially got him off the ball, but then Coach Pop was able to find a counter. “Coach Pop really helped us on how to defend that and I feel like we kind of closed it out towards the end.”

• “I felt like they were trying to take me off the ball a lot with the guard on guard, because they knew we were switching them, so finding a way to try to stay on the ball to try to create more stops for our team and also help rebounding,” said Castle. It’s only game 2 of the season and an NBA offense was already trying to get Castle off the ball, because of his on-ball defense, which was one of the skills he was known for when entering the league.

• The Rockets had their chances to tie. Once Brooks missed a wide open three that would have tied the game and then twice Jabari Smith Jr. missed a three and mid-ranger. On the final possession, Green was forced to take a rushed three after having to get by two Spurs defenders near halfcourt.

• Paul made an excellent read in crunch time, when he ran a pick-and-roll, drew in two defenders on a drive, and then he fed a wide open Sochan for a layup. This is where having Paul on the team is already showing an impact. Instead of rushing into a possession, Paul calmly called for the action and the result was a good look at the rim for Sochan.

• “He’s a great voice,” said Keldon of Paul after the game. “They made runs, and we stayed together. He’s been in a lot of those moments, tons of those moments, so being in that moment with him and learning and being able to close out games with him is great.”

• “We’ve got a point guard that’s able to piece it together, and he draws a lot of attention too,” said Julian Champagnie of having Paul on the floor in the fourth quarter. “He’s very vocal. He’s able to talk us through a lot of things.”

• “I thought we did a good job until the very end, when they isolated and just went 1-on-1,” said Coach Pop of the Spurs’ defense during the game. “They have a couple of guys that are hard to stay in front of for us.”

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Did the Spurs correct their mistakes from Dallas?

After the Spurs’ loss to Dallas, I wrote about four areas on both ends of the floor where they had difficulty that night - turnovers, 3-point shooting, opponent 3-point shooting, and rebounding. The Spurs improved in most of those areas Saturday except the turnovers.

• Turnovers - While it wasn’t 19 turnovers, the Spurs still turned the ball over 17 times in the game. The Rockets turned those turnovers into 17 points on the other end. After the game, Coach Pop said that’s still an area where the team needs to show improvement.

• 3-point shooting - The Spurs improved their 3-point accuracy, making 40% of their triples in the game. Their volume was lower, though with just 25% of their shots coming from beyond the arc. Wemby and Champagnie were the only two Spurs players who attempted 4 or more threes.

• Opponent 3-point shooting - While the Rockets did outscore the Spurs by 15 points from three, they shot a poor percentage. Houston shot just 31.7% from three, where 45% of their shots came from. While Houston did get their share of open looks, they also took a bunch of contested triples that the Spurs mostly contested well, save for a few fouled threes.

• Rebounding - The Spurs did a much better job of winning the glass. The Spurs won the rebounding battle by 15 boards, but compared to Thursday, they held Houston to just 8 offensive rebounds.

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The Top

Top Spurs Paint Scorers

• Sochan 14 points: As he’s continued to do since the preseason, now that Sochan doesn’t have to run the offense, he’s able to make the hustle plays, cut, and drive as a secondary action player in the offense. Sochan is taking most of his attempts close to the rim, the most efficient area on the floor. He finished by scoring 14 of his 17 points from the paint. Whether he drove the ball, rolled on P&Rs, or had a size mismatch, Sochan is showing he can still score while near the rim.

• “He’s Jeremy,” said Coach Pop of Sochan after the game. “He runs the floor, he rebounds, he does his best job on defense. He’s just out there to win and compete.”

• Wemby 12 points: After he struggled against Dallas, Wemby was much quicker in making his moves against Houston. He had a nasty throwdown dunk, when he got the ball in the post, used one dribble to get inside, then after a pump fake, with ONE FOOT STILL OUTSIDE THE RESTRICTED AREA, he dunked the ball with ease over the defender. After rolling after setting picks, Paul also found him twice for alley-oop connections.

Top Spurs Shooters