SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs could not pick up the home win against the Houston Rockets, losing 106-101.
Victor Wembanyama notched 14 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Spurs. Jeremy Sochan finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Keldon Johnson had six points off the bench, Zach Collins finished with 11, Malaki Branham had 15, and Chris Paul had 16 points and three assists.
Due to injury, San Antonio was without Devin Vassell and Tre Jones, who will be out for two weeks.
The Spurs are 1-2 to start the season and will next visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game.
SPURS
Popovich:
"I was just kind of a carbon copy of the game the other night. We didn't play well in the first half. We came back, did a lot better things, but it's the same story. The first half, we give up too many offensive rebounds, turn it over too much. Second half, we cut that in half. We didn't shoot well. You're not going to shoot well, you can't turn it over. You can't give up offensive boards."
Branham:
"Just rock out. Let's just go out and compete," said Branham about the team's second unit. "Just when the starters are not doing their job, things are starting off slow, we just come in with some energy."
Sochan:
"We just play that one-two game, and it's been working. I think we (Sochan and Wembanyama) read each other well, we see each other. So it is been good."
Wembanyama:
"I'm OK. I am in shape, but right now, it's just getting used to playing again, my teammates, the different ways teams guard us, different strategies. Everybody is going to get better as the season goes on."
ROCKETS
Ime Udoka:
“I felt we slowed down and got the matchups that we wanted, got the shots that we wanted. Whether you make them or miss them, it felt like we slowed down and weren’t rushed and picked out the mismatches we wanted. Then on the defensive end, went with some different lineups and had some mishaps here and there, but got some stops when we needed to. But the biggest part was that it felt like we weren’t rushed offensively. We got the shots we wanted to and made plays for each other.”
Fred VanVleet:
"[The Spurs] never quit. They keep playing hard, so we just had to keep making more plays down the stretch and stay focused and composed, and we were able to do that.”