Rockets Run Out of Steam Late, Crumble to Spurs, 103-91
Eight Isn’t Enough. The Jones Show. Empty Tank.
Same teams, same place… different outcome. Houston split their Texas Two-Step in San Antonio, falling to the Spurs 103-91 on Saturday afternoon. Registering only 8 available players, the Rockets put up a reasonable fight, and even led for most of the game. Houston just ran out of steam in the fourth quarter. Mason Jones, in his first career-NBA start, was a pleasant surprise for the Rockets. Jones, who’s expected to head to the Orlando Bubble for the G-League in February, made the most of his opportunity on Saturday evening. Jones led the team in scoring, notching 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The youngster showed he’s capable of providing Houston with another decent playmaker, given that Jones stays on the squad, and avoids a drop down to the G-League. Christian Wood was spectacular again for the Rockets. Wood snagged a career-high 18 boards, and scored 24 points, but Houston just ran out of steam against a fully-healthy Spurs squad.
Ben McLemore got the offense rolling early for Houston, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first quarter. Jae’Sean Tate got into early foul trouble, which didn’t help matters for the Rockets, and P.J. Tucker couldn’t hit the rim, shooting 1-for-9 from the floor. Still, Houston led for most of the first half, and stuck with San Antonio, until tired legs eventually buried the Rockets in the fourth quarter. Had the squad had another body or two, Houston could’ve definitely won this game, and swept their Alamo Two-Step. San Antonio just had more armory in this one. Jakob Poeltl was the player of the game for the Spurs, notching 30 minutes off the bench en route to 13 points and 11 boards. His size was a problem for this undermanned, out-sized Rockets team.
Houston will be getting more bodies back as they head to Chicago to finish their three-game road trip. Victor Oladipo is expected to make his Rockets debut, and Eric Gordon and DeMarcus Cousins will be returning from their respective injuries. As for their stop in San Antonio, having a combined 17 players for 2 games, the Rockets can’t be all that upset about splitting the pair under these difficult circumstances. If P.J. Tucker makes a few more shots, and Tate stays out of foul trouble, this outcome in the Alamo City could’ve been different.