The Rockets had finally gotten their offense in gear, had finally caught the Spurs, had finally seemed to get the stops to complete the comeback.
They could not, however, keep themselves from putting the Spurs on the line which was all the Spurs needed.
The Spurs had just one basket in the final seven minutes of the game, but in the final three minutes, the Spurs drained 11 straight free throws to repel a Rockets rally and take a 111-106 win.
3-POINTERS: Takeaways from Rockets’ loss to Spurs
DeMar DeRozan went 11 of 12 from the line to score 30 for the Spurs, whose 29 free throws matched the most the Rockets have allowed in a game this season.
John Wall had 27 for the Rockets with Eric Gordon adding 26. But while the Spurs lived at the line, the Rockets struggled from the 3-point line, making 12 of 38 attempts as the fourth-quarter comeback fell short.
Much of the game had trudged along as if the first to 90 would win it. Either that, or someone would snap out of it.
The Spurs broke free first, with DeRozan especially more frequently cashing in on the good looks he got all game.
After the Spurs made just 1 of their first five shots of the second half, a DeRozan jumper, they made 11 of 17 in the rest of the third quarter. DeRozan had 12 in the quarter as the Spurs built a 13-point lead. But as they had throughout the game, each time the Spurs built a double-digit edge, the Rockets answered with a brief run that put them in position to catch San Antonio if they could just string together made baskets.
Wall and David Nwaba pulled the Rockets back to within seven heading into the fourth quarter. With the Rockets going with their small-ball lineups, first with Jae’Sean Tate at center and then with P.J. Tucker, the Rockets offense clicked as it had not all game.
Some of that was from making the shots they had been missing. Danuel House Jr. put in consecutive 3s, one when he drove from the 3-point line and back out again. When Gordon added a pair of free throws, the Rockets were within one for the first time since the first quarter.
In a game that both teams had struggled for so long to get going, to complete their comeback, the Rockets would have to find a way to get stops.
They did for a few minutes. After falling behind by five, Victor Oladipo and DeMarcus Cousins blocked shots and Oladipo came up with a steal.
The Rockets left a couple points unclaimed by missing free throws, but Gordon put in a 3-pointer, his fourth of the night and then tied the game with 4:13 remaining, the first time it had been tied since the third minute.
Dejounte Murray missed so when Wall pulled up from 20 feet, the Rockets had their first lead of the night.
The Rockets, however, committed consecutive bad fouls, Oladipo undercutting Jakob Poeltl in the final seconds of the shot clock before Cousins got a piece of DeRozan 80 feet from the basket.
The Spurs made all four free throws. After a Rockets turnover, DeRozan was fouled again, putting the Spurs up two. House missed a good look at a 3-pointer, DeRozan finished the Rockets off.
His jumper through a House foul was the Spurs’ only field goal of the final seven minutes. He added a free throw for a three-point play and a five-point lead heading to the final minute. The Spurs iced the win from the line.
The Rockets had spent much of the night rallying from double-digit deficits.
With the Spurs holding a 12-point lead last in the first half, House sank a 3-pointer before Gordon finished a pair of drives, Cousins put in a short jumper and Wall and Tate were fouled on drives and put in four free throws.
That gave the Rockets a 13-3 run to within two. They trailed, 51-47, at halftime after failing to get back in the final second to gift a layup to Patty Mills on a break. Until then, both teams were 18 of 48, 5 of 16 on 3s, both missing shots they normally expect to put in.
Yet, after a low-scoring, largely defensive half, both teams likely wanted to tighten up the defense if only to keep the other struggling. The Rockets did, but not without fouling or getting the generosity from the San Antonio shooters they needed.
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