SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs saw their two-game winning streak snapped by the Rockets, 114-101.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Malaki Branham had 20 points and one rebound. Zach Collins added six points off the bench. Devin Vassell recorded 22 points in the loss. Keldon Johnson added 18 points.
Houston's Alperen Sengun scored a career-high 45 points, 16 rebounds, and a career-best five steals. The Rockets outscored the Spurs 70-44 in points in the paint.
The Spurs are 13-49 on the season and will next visit the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game.
SPURS
Coach Gregg Popovich:
"They (Houston) deserve a lot of credit. They were physical from the get-go until the end of the game. They came after it. They put us in mud. A young group needs understand the road is a lot different than at home and it requires a little bit more mental toughness, and we didn't have this time. So we'll move on. Try to play better at Sac (Sacramento)."
Branham:
"We weren't getting stops. We were trading buckets. If we missed a shot, getting back on transition defense was hard. Turned over the ball a couple of times. That's kind of why the game slipped away from us. I feel like we had a couple of good shots too that just didn't go in but when that happens we have to get back and run in transition defense."
"Transition defense, that’s just the biggest thing trying to keep improving every game. Transition defense, stopping the ball so they don’t get easy buckets.”
ROCKETS
Alperen Sengun:
Ime Udoka: