Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets – Game #62
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs came up short in Houston (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs couldn’t quite do enough to achieve their first three-game winning streak of the season. Instead, the Spurs fell to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night by a final count of 114-101. San Antonio now has a record of 13-49.
The Spurs got off to a bit of a slow start and trailed 26-21 at the end of the first quarter. However, the good guys played really well in the second period to take a 53-47 lead into halftime.
Unfortunately, San Antonio’s grip on the game began to slip in the final six minutes of the third quarter. In the fourth, the Spurs gave good effort but they never could put a sustained run together.
Stats: Spurs at Rockets
Spurs at Rockets – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
It was a rough night at the office for Wembanyama. Entering the game, he was listed as questionable due to shoulder soreness. During the game, he apparently injured his ankle. Wembanyama also uncharacteristically battled foul trouble. Add all of that together and the results weren’t pretty. Alperen Sengun, the player the rookie was mostly defending, finished with a career-high 45 points. Wembanyama wasn’t much better on the other side of the court. In the second half, he didn’t even attempt a shot. Let’s hope Wembanyama can bounce back soon after a contest in which he obviously wasn’t himself.
Grade: D
Devin Vassell
Vassell led the Spurs with 22 points but he wasn’t overly impactful. He needed 19 shots to get 22 points, missed all but one of his five three-pointers and finished with as many assists (3) as turnovers. I thought Vassell shot-selection was mostly fine, although he had to force a handful of attempts due to strong defense by the Rockets. Defensively, he did good work on the boards and had some positive possessions — but he wasn’t a notable difference-maker on that end.
Grade: B-
Jeremy Sochan
Sochan was in the middle of a lot of the action but he wasn’t playing especially well. He hit only 1-of-6 three-pointers and — even worse — he was hesitant to shoot them. The Rockets were ignoring Sochan behind the three-point line; he has to make defenses pay for that amount of disrespect. He was better inside of the arc but he remained too wild and too inconsistent in all areas on offense. Defensively, Sochan gave a good amount of effort but his impact was minimal.
Grade: C-
Tre Jones
I don’t know if Jones is injured, tired or just showing his true colors but he hasn’t been doing a good job lately of making the case that he should continue starting. Offensively, he’s simply not doing enough. It’s helpful that he takes care of the ball and makes the simple passes that need to be made — but he’s not doing enough. He missed all three of his three-point attempts and didn’t penetrate the paint often enough. Defensively, Jones struggled to slow anyone he was matched up against.
Grade: D+
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie was back in the starting lineup after missing a game due to a sprained ankle. It looked like he came back too quickly. Champagnie passed up wide open shots — almost to the point of comedy. He had trouble moving his feet on defense or running the court in transition.
Grade: D-
Keldon Johnson
This game was a step in the right direction for Johnson. He attacked with vigor and led the Spurs with six free throw attempts. He picked his spots from beyond the three-point arc carefully and was 3-for-5 from deep. His finishing could have been a lot better but he wasn’t missing due to a lack of toughness. Defensively, he was more locked in than usual and he helped rebounding-wise.
Grade: B+
Malaki Branham
It could be argued that Branham was the main reason why the Spurs didn’t get blown out. The second-year guard is really playing well as of late. In Houston, he scored 20 points in 26 minutes off the bench. His three-point shooting continues to look good, he scored on aggressive drives to the hoop and made something out of nothing on a number of times. Defensively, he’s no longer a pushover. In all facets, Branham’s is exhibiting a healthy amount of basketball IQ. Good stuff.
Grade: A
Zach Collins
The good: Collins was pretty impactful on the interior defensively — especially compared to his teammates. His rebounding was better. Offensively, he knocked down a smooth-looking three-pointer and set effective screens. The bad: Three turnovers in 18 minutes? That’s too many. Collins also didn’t provide his usual scoring punch. Overall: This was a better than average outing for San Antonio’s backup center.
Grade: B
Cedi Osman
Osman stubbornly found ways to score during his 15 minutes. He also rebounded well, ran the court and never lacked for electricity. Defensively, it was more miss than hit — but he was a little bit better than we’ve witnessed lately from him.
Grade: B
Blake Wesley
Defensively, Wesley applied an ample amount of pressure. His effort on that end caused the Rockets to pay attention to him. Offensively, Wesley was really good at making plays and passing the ball. The result was five assists and no turnovers in only 12 minutes. Unfortunately, his inability to score the ball took away from what could have been a really strong outing. Wesley needs to attack the basket and look to finish — both in transition and halfcourt sets.
Grade: B
Pop
Pop mixing things up on Sengun could have been helpful. Instead, the Spurs played predictably on defense and the Rockets figured it out time and again. I also thought Pop should have had a quicker hook with Wembanyama. The rookie was obviously laboring — playing him 31 minutes given the circumstances wasn’t wise.
Grade: D-