For a third time in 11 days, San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center will host the storied I-10 rivalry between the host Spurs and the visiting Houston Rockets. Unlike the two meetings last week, Friday’s game is part of the NBA’s 2023-24 regular season.
The Rockets and Spurs split their exhibitions and are each 0-1 in “real” games, though they enter coming off very different circumstances. San Antonio had a close loss at home versus Dallas. Houston was blown out by Orlando.
The Rockets didn’t have third-year guard Jalen Green (toenail issue) in either of last week’s games against the Spurs. His return could help Houston’s offense as it seeks to unlock space versus a long and physical Spurs team, anchored by rookie Victor Wembanyama.
Then again, Green struggled mightily in Wednesday’s regular-season opener versus the Magic, scoring just 10 points in 30 minutes on 2-of-10 shooting (20%) from the field. That type of performance isn’t likely to be sufficient to win a game in San Antonio, either.
Like the Magic, the Spurs have a long and athletic defense. The 7-foot-3 Wembanyama starts at power forward and a pair of big guards in Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan.