The Houston Rockets held off the San Antonio Spurs in a 128-124 win at AT&T Center. Houston overcame a nine-point third quarter deficit before leading by as many as 12 points in the fourth. Eric Gordon led the way with 31 points, and Christian Wood had a double-double with 23 points and 11 boards. The Rockets snap a three-game losing streak with the victory. Dejounte Murray had a triple-double, pouring in 32 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Spurs, who have dropped their fourth consecutive game.
Post Game Comments:
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening statement...)
“They don’t lack for effort. They hang in there. We are making a lot of mistakes, but every team makes mistakes. We just can’t afford to make as many in our situation. Giving up 39 points in the first quarter makes it pretty difficult, and you’re digging out of a hole all night. Even if you come back. We took the lead. You still have a lot taken out of you to get to that point, and it showed especially after a long road trip. We have to be more purposeful, we have to execute better, we have to have better decisions, but we can't start out following people around and being soft in the first quarters, and that really put us in the hole. And [Dejounte Murray] was amazing.”
Spurs Guard Keldon Johnson
(On Houston’s speed…)
“I think we just started out slow. First quarter killed us. Got us in a hole, and we had to fight up out of there. They pushed the ball, they pushed the pace, as we expected. We just got to start the game better.”
(On how Dejounte Murray is playing …)
“He’s an All-Star. He’s playing amazing, he’s doing amazing things for us, and anything you can ask, he’s doing it for us. Big-time basketball. I think Dejounte Murray is definitely an All-Star.”
(On Dejounte Murray’s aggressiveness…)
“It’s definitely big. He creates a lot of offense for us. You see him take control and hit some big shots. It’s just we didn’t have enough toward the end. If we had a little bit more time, or things go differently, but he’s been amazing every game he’s played.”
Spurs Guard Bryn Forbes
(On first game back after a long road trip...)
“No excuses. Should've won that game, but that’s a part of playing in the NBA. It’s going to be a lot of games where you are tired and beat up, and you still got to go win games. So, it’s no excuse.”
(On Dejounte’s play tonight and this season...)
“He’s been playing his ass off all year. Not just tonight. He’s really found himself, I think, in this league, and he’s killing it. I’m proud of him.”
(On not knowing who will be available...)
“It's crazy times right now, but we've been in a few games where we could've won. Brooklyn, this game, a couple others; those would’ve been big wins if we would've pulled those out without everybody, because when we do get back to full strength, we’ll pretty much have the whole team that’s already had it. Usually, people don’t get it twice in that short period of time, so I think it'll be an advantage for us in the long run. But for right now, obviously, it’s hurting us some.”
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Pool Report on the Technical Foul on Christian Wood during Tonight’s Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs Game
The Pool Report interview was conducted by Jeff McDonald (Express-News) with Crew Chief Tyler Ford following tonight’s Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs game.
QUESTION: What did Christian Wood do or say to warrant a technical foul at the end of the first half?
FORD: Christian Wood received a warning about complaining about the previous play. He continually complained after the warning and received a technical foul.