SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs got their first win of the new season at their home-opening game against the Houston Rockets, 109-106.
Victor Wembanyama notched 29 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocks to lead the Spurs. Jeremy Sochan finished with 17 points and connected on 8-14 field goals. Keldon Johnson had 16 points off the bench, Harrison Barnes finished with 11, Julian Champagnie had 12, and Chris Paul had three points and nine assists.
Due to injury, San Antonio was without Devin Vassell and Tre Jones, who will be out for two weeks, according to coach Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs are 1-1 to start the season and will next host the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game.
SPURS
Popovich:
“I thought we did a good job (defensively) until the very end when they (Houston) isolated and just went one-on-one, because they got a couple of guys that are hard to stay in front of for us. That got him back in the ballgame. The one-on-one stuff by Jalen Green and a couple of other guys were really tough to negotiate.”
Johnson:
We know [the Rockets] are gonna come back, they’re gonna be hungry, they’re gonna be ready to play. We got to come in and try to repeat and get another win.”
Stephon Castle:
“I feel like being out there late in the game is just a credit to my defense. I feel like that’s when it’s needed most. I was really just trying to lock in on that. On the other end, just execute whatever Pop calls."
Sochan:
“They (Houston) definitely had momentum. It was really just about staying composed, staying together, communicating, and finishing it through.”
ROCKETS
Ime Udoka:
"We got it down to 10 or 11 pretty quickly with the chance to get it in single digits a few times. Then it kind of bloom back to 15, 16, but once we decided to get physical and be aggressive and start to play like we're capable of, it became a game. We had our chances at the end as well.”
Dillon Brooks:
"We got it down to 10 or 11 pretty quickly with the chance to get it in single digits a few times. Then it kind of bloom back to 15, 16, but once we decided to get physical and be aggressive and start to play like we're capable of, it became a game. We had our chances at the end as well.”