SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs went into Houston and ended a losing streak with a dominant 124-105 win over their in-state rival.
Devin Vassell scored 26 to lead seven Spurs in double figures, and the rookies played well off the bench to help secure San Antonio's tenth win of the year.
San Antonio got out to a hot start. Vassell hit a mid-range jumper, then a three on a feed from Tre Jones. He got it back to Jones for a floater. Poeltl scored inside, then Keita Bates-Diop spun and whipped it to Vassell in the corner for another triple. Vassell returned the favor, and KBD cashed in from downtown to put the Spurs up 16-6.
Jones knocked down that three-point shot he's been working on, then found Romeo Langford for a layup, then got his own.
Rookie Malaki Branham finished a tough reverse layup in transition off a feed from KBD.
Houston fought their way back into the game. Jeremy Sochan got it to Doug McDermott for three, then got to the line and tried a funky one-handed free throw. He hit one of two.
McDermott scored again, and Sochan drove hard and stopped on a dime with a pump fake to lose the defender for a layup.
Stanley Johnson went coast to coast for a tough layup between defenders, and followed up another Vassell three with a three of his own and a thunderous block. Vassell drove for a crafty and-1 and put the Spurs up 8.
Then Houston ripped off an 14-2 run to take their first lead of the game. Branham found McBuckets for a pair of makes to slow the bleeding.
Vassell made another pull-up jumper, then drew a double and found Stanley Johnson for another three to beat the halftime buzzer. San Antonio trailed 62-60 at the break.
Tre Jones got it to Poeltl inside, then finished a feed from Langford, then drove in for a layup. Langford knocked down a deep three from the top of the arc to put the Spurs back in front.
KBD scored four in a row, then when he missed Sochan was there to clean up the mess. McDermott swished from three and Zach Collins hit free throws to make it a 10-point Spurs lead.
Sochan went back to the line and missed a pair of one-handed free throws, but confidently knocked down a three on the next possession. Then on the other end, he leapt and hovered and spiked back a shot like a volleyball.
Collins scored inside, then screened for Vassell who drove and pulled up at the elbow. After another stop, Vassell beat the buzzer with a sidestep three after a series of crossovers. San Antonio went up 92-76 heading to the fourth, their largest lead of the game.
Stanley Johnson made a perfect hammer pass to Vassell, who drove from the corner and finished inside. Then Johnson grabbed a board, took it coast to coast, and found McDermott in the same corner for three. Then Johnson took it in himself for a layup.
Sochan pumped at the arc, drove toward the baseline and popped in a short jumper. Branham dumped it to Collins in the post, got it right back and drilled a triple.
Vassell knocked down a triple, then Tre Jones picked off a pass and ran down for a layup attempt. He got stuffed, but Sochan leapt for it and slammed it down. Jones found Branham for another three to make it a 26-point lead.
Vassell finished with 26 points to lead seven Spurs in double figures. Malaki Branham got a career-high 14 after scoring 12 in the previous game. McDermott scored 16, and Jones finished with 13 points, 8 assists and 6 boards. Sochan had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
The Spurs shot 17-34 from three and had 30 assists on 46 made baskets. They won 124-105, moving to 10-20 on the season. Next they'll head to New Orleans to take on the formidable Pelicans.
GAME REWIND
The Spurs are coming off a 111-101 loss versus the Heat in Mexico City.
Keldon Johnson had 22 points and two rebounds to lead the team while Devin Vassell added 18 points. Tre Jones finished with nine points and nine assists while Zach Collins recorded 13 points off the bench.
"It's a 48 minute game and we played pretty good defense for 36 [minutes] for three quarters," Gregg Popovich said. "In the fourth quarter our defense went in the toilet and they [Heat] took advantage with their good three point shooting, their great movement that they do for Erik [Spoelstra] and our young guys did not keep up with that for the full 48 [minutes] and so they paid the price in the fourth quarter."
INJURY REPORT
THE UNIFORMS
The Spurs will be in their Association Edition jerseys today.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
1. The Spurs are 4-8 versus teams with sub .500 records this season.
2. The Spurs are shooting 31-percent from the three-point line through seven games played in December.
3. The Spurs are 0-16 this season when trailing after the third period.
4. Houston's opponents have connected on more three-point shots versus the Rockets in nine-straight games.
5. The Rockets are 2-15 overall when trailing at halftime.
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