Spurs-Rockets Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Jan 21 2012 2:04AM

Last week in San Antonio, an overtime loss to the Spurs dropped the Houston Rockets' record to four games below .500.

The Rockets haven't lost since, and a rematch with the Spurs at the Toyota Center on Saturday night could help them move two games above the break-even mark.

This will be the third meeting between these Southwest Division rivals with the home team prevailing each time - a trend that should come as no surprise with these clubs.

Houston (8-7) crushed San Antonio 105-85 in its home opener on Dec. 29, as Kevin Martin had a game-high 25 points and the Spurs were held to a season-low 37.6 percent shooting. The game was much closer in San Antonio on Jan. 11, with Tony Parker scoring 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting in the Spurs' 101-95 overtime victory.

The Rockets have won all five games since with four coming in Houston, where they're 6-1. They're just 2-6 on the road, though, and San Antonio can probably relate to those woes.

The Spurs (10-6) won for the first time in six road games Wednesday in overtime against Orlando. They seemed to have a good shot of picking up another victory two nights later with a home game against Sacramento, but suffered an 88-86 loss - their first in 10 games at the AT&T Center.

Tony Parker had a team-high 24 points Friday, but nobody else scored more than 10, with Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter all barely reaching double figures. The Spurs led 84-78 with 3:23 remaining before missing their final five shots - including Danny Green's airball of a short runner as time expired.

San Antonio shot 37.8 percent from the floor and missed 20 of 25 shots from beyond the arc. The Spurs have been unable to get much going from the perimeter the last two games, going just 7 of 42 (16.7 percent).

"If it isn't going we're going to have to try to do something else," said Parker, who is averaging 22.0 points and 7.3 assists in the last six games. "Penetrate, get points in the paint, get Timmy going, get DeJuan Blair going."

Houston is also coming off a disappointing offensive effort, needing overtime to beat New Orleans 90-88 on Thursday after squandering a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead. Martin scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half for the Rockets, who shot 3 for 21 from the field in the final period and mustered seven points, matching a team record set three times previously.

"From an offensive standpoint we just had no flow in that second half after having a lot of flow early," coach Kevin McHale said. "We need a little film session and clean up some stuff."

They might be able to get back on track against a San Antonio team that was dreadful defensively in its first five road games - allowing averages of 109.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting - before slowing down the Magic.

The emergence of Samuel Dalembert could also make a difference in the rematch. The 6-foot-11 center had six points and five rebounds in San Antonio last week and was averaging 5.6 points and 5.9 boards in the Rockets' first 10 games. He is since averaging 15.2 points and 12.8 rebounds during Houston's winning streak.

"Sam was always a guy you just worried about on the defensive end," Martin said. "Wow, the last week, I don't know where he ordered that from but it's nice to see. He's playing well and that's a big key to us right now winning five in a row."

Martin, Lowry lead Rockets past Spurs 105-102

By CHRIS DUNCAN
Posted Jan 22 2012 2:03AM

HOUSTON (AP) The Houston Rockets solved their fourth-quarter problems from the previous game and put away the San Antonio Spurs.

Kevin Martin scored 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 14 points and eight assists and the streaking Rockets took advantage of Tim Duncan's absence in a 105-102 victory Saturday night.

Goran Dragic scored 14 and Samuel Dalembert added 12 points and a season-high six blocks for the Rockets, who have won six in a row.

The Rockets were coming off a 90-88 win over New Orleans in which they tied a franchise record with only seven points in the final quarter. They outscored the Spurs 28-27 in the fourth on Saturday, shooting 59 percent from the field (10 for 17).

"It was definitely great to get over that hump," Lowry said.

Tony Parker had 24 points and a season-high 13 assists for the Spurs, who were playing their fourth game in five nights. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich rested Duncan, who played 25 minutes in Friday night's loss to Sacramento. Tiago Splitter had a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who dropped to 1-6 on the road.

San Antonio trailed 101-99 with a minute left. The Rockets nearly lost the ball in the backcourt, but Dragic picked it up and just beat the shot clock with a one-hander to put Houston up by four.

Richard Jefferson sank a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but Martin made two free throws to put it away for the Rockets.

"Some days, there are no excuses. They made plays at the end of the game," Jefferson said. "Tony had a great game, Tiago had a great game, two teams were battling back and forth. They made the right plays, we had a shot to tie it, and we don't get it done. Simple enough."

The Rockets shot 56 percent (44 of 79) to make up for the Spurs' 43-32 edge in rebounds.

"This was a tough one," Splitter said. "We did a good job, but they hit unbelievable shots at the end."

Houston opened the game with a 9-0 run after the Spurs missed their first four shots and coughed up three turnovers in the first 2 1/2 minutes.

The Rockets continued to shoot well in the second quarter, but the Spurs began scoring inside to stay close. Parker turned a steal into a fast-break layup, then hit a driving one-hander to tie it 41-all.

Dalembert dunked with a minute left in the half, and Houston led 55-49 at the break. Parker had 13 points and seven assists in the first half.

"Tony was kind of in the one-man-game thing, going mid-screen," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "He was just making plays."

Matt Bonner and Jefferson opened the second half with 3-pointers to tie it again. Martin then scored the next seven points, finishing the burst with his second 3-pointer.

With Parker on the bench for much of the third quarter, the Spurs rallied again and Splitter's layup cut the deficit to 72-71. Parker returned with 2:21 left in the quarter, and his long jumper just before the quarter buzzer drew the Spurs to 77-75.

Parker then came out of the game and did knee bends behind the bench, with a towel and a heating pad pressed against his left hip. San Antonio led 84-83 when he returned with 7:39 remaining.

"We believe we can win with whatever lineup we put out there," Bonner said.

Lowry's 3-pointer with 3:07 left put Houston up 99-92. The Rockets went 0 for 8 from 3-point range in Thursday's win over New Orleans.

"We made shots," Lowry said. "We tried to push the tempo a little bit and use our speed and quickness to our advantage."

Bonner hit a 3 and Gary Neal made a running shot to quickly get the Spurs back in it. But Dragic ended up with the ball after a scramble and hit a mid-range jumper.

"Guys were making plays," Martin said. "Kyle played great, Goran played great and then defensively, we were at our best, once again. It was a grind-it-out game."

Notes: The Spurs are 1-3 starting their stretch of 16 of 21 games on the road. ... Splitter recorded his second double-double. ... Parker was four assists shy of his career high, set last season. ... The Rockets have held double-digit leads in nine straight games, tying the longest streak since 2008-09. ... The teams were playing for the third time this season, and wrap up their four-game season series in San Antonio on Feb. 1.

Notebook: Rockets 105, Spurs 102

By Matt Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 21, 2012 11:53PM

THE FACTS: Houston Rockets point guards Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic came alive when their team needed it most.

Lowry and Dragic combined to score 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting during the fourth period, and Kevin Martin poured in a team-high 25 points as the Rockets extended their league-best winning streak to six games with a 105-102 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at Toyota Center.

San Antonio (10-7) played without Tim Duncan (rest) but received a great effort from reserve Tiago Splitter, who netted a career-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. Tony Parker finished with a double-double of 24 points and a season-high 13 assists, but he connected on only 10 of 23 shots.

Despite shooting a season-high 55.7 percent (44-for-79) overall, Houston (9-7) did not secure the win until guard Gary Neal's desperate attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer fell way short of the basket a couple seconds before time expired.

QUOTABLE: "The great thing about having another point guard out there that can make plays is that they can't blitz both of us. So I was pretty much just saying, 'Hey, Goran, make the plays for us.'"
-- Lowry on how the Rockets' dual point-guard lineup created havoc for San Antonio

THE STAT: The Spurs have had little to brag about defensively when playing away from home this season. San Antonio has allowed an average of 108.3 points in its six road defeats this season. All six opponents have hit more than 50 percent of their shots.

TURNING POINT: Neal drained a 3-pointer and a deep 2-point jumper to put San Antonio ahead for the first time all night, 84-79 with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter. That lead did not last long, however, as the Rockets responded with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to take gain a 92-86 edge. The Spurs became dysfunctional on offense during this stretch, missing six of seven shots and committing two turnovers to allow the Rockets to use their small, quick lineup to their advantage.

QUOTABLE II: "We didn't have a bad game. Some days there are no excuses. It's not error mentally. ... Two teams were battling back and forth, but [the Rockets] made the right plays."
-- Spurs forward Richard Jefferson.

HOT: Houston's offense has gotten off to hot starts each of the last two games, averaging 56.5 points on 56.8 percent (46-for-81) shooting from the field in the first half of these two contests

NOT: San Antonio's 3-point shooting slump continued Saturday with the Spurs making only seven of 22 attempts from behind the arc. The Spurs have shot 26.9 percent (29-for-108) from long range over their last five games.

GOOD MOVE: With Duncan sitting out of this game to rest, the Spurs played with small lineups that could have hampered their ability to keep up with Houston on the glass. But solid gang rebounding off Houston's and their own misfires helped San Antonio finish with a 43-32 edge on the boards, including a 16-4 advantage offensively.

BAD MOVE: Splitter was in the midst of delivering one of the greatest performances of his career, but Popovich took him out in favor of foul-happy DeJuan Blair. Not surprisingly, the Rockets made their game-changing run before Splitter returned.

QUOTABLE III: "Splitter did his best Tim Duncan impresson."
-- Houston coach Kevin McHale.

NOTABLE: Rockets forward/center Jordan Hill (flu) returned from a one-game absence. ... Tony Parker was favoring his hip area on the sidelines while taking a breather during the fourth quarter, but he said it was just lingering discomfort from a nasty fall he suffered earlier this week. Parker played the final 7:39 and did not appear to be in severe discomfort. ... San Antonio fell to 0-3 this season on the second night of home-road back-to-backs. ... The Rockets improved to 3-1 in games decided by three points or less. ... Houston is now 5-0 when it reaches 100 points. ... Samuel Dalembert blocked a season-high six shots to help the Rockets build a 9-2 edge in that category. ... Six Rockets scored in double figures for the second time this season. ... Rookie Kawhi Leonard snatched a career-best 11 rebounds (seven offensive) for San Antonio.

UP NEXT: For the Spurs, Monday @ New Orleans, Wednesday vs. Atlanta, Friday @ Minnesota. For the Rockets, Monday @ Minnesota, Wednesday vs. Milwaukee, Friday vs. Washington.

• Spurs: Ford, Ginobili
• Rockets: Morris, Thabeet

• Spurs: --
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #66 Haywoode Workman, #22 Bill Spooner, #11 Derrick Collins
• Attendance: 15285
• Duration: 2:08