The San Antonio Spurs (9-20) return to the United States to continue their 2022-23 regular season schedule with a road stop against the Houston Rockets (9-20).
Coming off a 111-101 loss to the Miami Heat in Mexico City, the Spurs shot just 4-12 from the floor with seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. San Antonio had a chance to finish the job but was outscored 31-17 in the final period. Keldon Johnson had 22 points but the Heat received three 20-point scorers between Jimmy Butler (26), Bam Adebayo (22), and Tyler Herro (21).
“We’ll never know the answer because they’re human,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the inconsistency. “You try to figure it out, but it happens to even the very best teams in the league. Some nights you just don’t have that juice.”
The Rockets shot an atrocious 3-29 from beyond the arc in their 107-95 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Anfernee Simons scored a game-high 32 points with Damian Lillard chipping in 25 points and 10 assists. Houston’s leading scorer was Jalen Green with only 15 points.
“We want to take good shots, and in the first half we were taking really good shots,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “We were getting offensive rebounds (11 prior to the break) and crashing the boards to keep staying in the game because the shot quality was good. You’re going to have nights where you don’t make shots, but the ball movement just has to be better.”
Spurs vs. Rockets Broadcast Information
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022 at 4:00 pm CT
WHERE: Toyota Center (Houston, TX)
TV: Bally Sports Southwest, NBA League Pass
RADIO: Spurs Radio – WOAI 1200
ODDS: Rockets -4.0
Spurs vs. Rockets Injury Report
INJURY REPORT (SPURS): Keldon Johnson – Questionable (Low Back Contusion), Romeo Langford – Questionable (Stomach Illness), Josh Richardson – Out (Personal Reasons
INJURY REPORT (ROCKETS): Jae’Sean Tate – Out (Right Ankle Soreness), Garrison Matthews – Out (Illness – Non-COVID)
Spurs vs. Rockets Projected Starters
Spurs Projected Lineup: G Tre Jones, G Romeo Langford, F Keldon Johnson, F Jeremy Sochan, C Jakob Poeltl
Rockets Projected Lineup: G Kevin Porter, G Jalen Green, F Eric Gordon, F Jabari Smith Jr., C Alperen Sengun
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