Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and rookie Stephon Castle hit a key free throw with 7.2 seconds to play as the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the visiting Houston Rockets 109-106 on Saturday in the first of a pair of games in three nights between the Lone Star State rivals in the Alamo City.
San Antonio broke open a close game by outscoring the Rockets 20-3 over the final 9 1/2 minutes of the second quarter and carried a 21-point advantage into halftime. The Spurs still led by 18 heading to the fourth but had to weather a torrid Houston comeback that cut the advantage to just two points after Dillon Brooks’ layup with 1:24 to play to set up the furious finish.
Jeremy Sochan added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, who evened their season record through two games. Keldon Johnson scored 16 points off the bench, Julian Champagnie hit for 12 and Harrison Barnes tallied 11 for San Antonio.
Jalen Green scored 11 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Rockets’ comeback and drew the back of the rim on a final 3-point attempt to tie the game in the final seconds. Fred VanVleet added 18, Brooks poured in 16, Jock Landale had 13 and Cam Whitmore scored 10 points for Houston, which was playing a night after beating Memphis at home.
Houston trailed 38-31 after one period but culled its deficit to four points on a Landale dunk with 9:34 to play in the second quarter. The Spurs ran off the next 18 points, with the run capped by a Wembanyama three-point play with 1:11 to play before halftime.
Green’s long 3-pointer with 28 seconds left ended the scoreless drought for Houston but was immediately answered by a basket by Sochan that granted the Spurs a 62-41 lead at the break.
Wembanyama led all scorers with 15 points before halftime while Sochan added 12 for the Spurs. Green had 12 points to pace the Rockets, who missed 20 of their final 21 shots of the half and shot just 33.3 percent from the floor over the first two quarters.
