Rockets Fend-Off Spurs in Rocky 93-82 Win
Ugly Christmas Sweater. Beastin’ Eason. Streaking.
In the ugliest game of the season so far, the Rockets managed to keep the Spurs at bay, winning a gritty 93-82 contest at home. And this game was ugly, not one to be saved as a classic game in NBA history by any means. Houston will remember this as the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” game of the season. The Rockets missed their first 8 shots and didn’t score until a little over two and half minutes into the game. Neither team deserved to win this one, but unlike hockey, basketball always produces a winner. Luckily for Houston, they kept kept their three-game winning streak alive, and extended their win streak at home to 10 games. It’s the longest winning streak at Toyota Center for the Rockets since a stretch during the late 2018 / early 2019 season. Houston also gave San Antonio a franchise-record 17th straight loss on the early season. After starting out 3-2, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are facing a low-point in the franchise’s performance on the court. Wemby himself didn’t have a poor performance. The rookie phenom scored 15 points and grabbed 18 boards for San Antonio in the loss.
Tari Eason led the Rockets with a season-high 18 points and 14 rebounds, for his first double-double of the season. Eason has that dog-like mentality. It’s no surprise one of the toughest players in the league performed well in this gritty affair. Fred VanVleet chipped in 16 points for the Houston, and Jalen Green remains the definition of inconsistency, as he scored only 7 points on 2-for-10 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. had another strong outing on the boards, an area he’s improved on tremendously in recent games. Smith Jr. grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with 9 points on the evening. Alperen Sengun contributed 15 points and 9 boards, but wasn’t needed down the stretch as the Rockets pulled away late in their latest, ugliest win of the season.
With the victory, Houston has now won ten straight at home, improving to 10-1 at Toyota Center on the season. Another very winnable home game is next on the schedule, as the Rockets host the Grizzlies (6-16) on Wednesday night. Hopefully, the squad can garner the same result… and polish the ugliness off of their offensive showing from the previous game.