The sudden trend of poor 3-point shooting by the Rockets accelerated in Monday’s listless 124-105 home loss (box score) to in-state rival San Antonio.
Though the Spurs entered with an identical record to Houston and in a similar rebuilding place as a franchise, the on-court products at Toyota Center were quite different.
Devin Vassell had a game-high 26 points and 5 assists for the Spurs on 10-of-17 shooting (58.8%), including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers (62.5%). As a team, Gregg Popovich’s club hit 17-of-34 from 3-point range (50%), whereas Houston made 5-of-24 from distance (20.8%) and has connected on 8-of-53 over its last two games (15.1%).
Big man Alperen Sengun led Houston with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting (80%), though he was inconsistent defensively and was limited to 24 minutes by head coach Stephen Silas.
Making matters worse, it marks the second time in less than two weeks the Rockets (9-21) have lost convincingly to their rebuilding rivals, even with the Spurs (10-20) missing Keldon Johnson this time due to injury.
Young prospects Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., and Jabari Smith Jr. set the tone on a cold night with a 2-of-12 showing from 3-point range (16.7%). Second-year guard Daishen Nix showed promise off the bench with a career-high 9 assists and 3 steals in 24 minutes. But fittingly for the night, Nix missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction following Monday’s loss to San Antonio. Houston plays the sixth game of its longest homestand of the season (seven games in total) on Wednesday night versus Orlando, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Central.