Makeshift lineup can’t shake slow start
SAN ANTONIO — The Rockets on Wednesday got their first look at Victor Wembanyama. Like looking at the eclipse, the sight might have blinded them to the other guys on the floor with him.
Playing with a shorthanded, makeshift lineup, the Rockets did eventually find their focus. They got back in the game that seemed destined for a blowout from the opening tip.
Along the way, Wembanyama had a few breathtaking moments, dribbling between Reggie Bullock’s legs, draining 3s, blocking shots. But after his and the other starter’s nights were long over, and the Rockets had closed to within six, the Spurs finished the game as the Rockets had on Monday, pulling away for a 117103 win.
The loss was the Rockets’ first of the preseason, with the fifth and final game on Friday at home against Miami expected to be more a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
In addition to missing Jalen Green and Tari Eason, both out for the second consecutive game but hopeful to be back on Friday, the Rockets gave Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green the night off. The Spurs went with their regulars and their likely rotation, looking ready for the opener on Wednesday against the Mavericks.
The Rockets did recover from a terrible start to get back in the game, much of their rally to single digits with starters still in the game. Spurs star Devin Vassell needed only 25 minutes to score his 25 points. Wembanyama did not make a shot until the second half, connecting on 3 of 10, but he still had 15 points in 21 minutes.
The Rockets trailed by as much as 23 midway through the second quarter, but after a particularly vociferous Ime Udoka time out talk, they took 10 points off that lead, and were down a more manageable 16 at halftime.
With a 12-2 run in the third quarter, they were within 69-60 before Wembanyama sank a 3 and the Rockets sent in the reserves.
The starters had mixed results. Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 22 points, making 7 of 14 shots. Jae’Sean Tate added 12 points and initially matched up with Wembanyama. But Alperen Sengün struggled for a second-consecutive game. After making 1 of 8 shots on Monday, he made just 1 of 10, fouling out with five points in just 24 minutes.
Soon after he was done, the future Vipers took over, and looked ready to contend for a G League season, assuming the Spurs don’t send Wembanyama to Austin.
A Pop-ish time out
The Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan moved in for a too easy offensive rebound, passed quickly to Devin Vassell for a much too easy mid-range jumper and Rockets coach Ime Udoka had some thoughts.
Udoka called time out and started to join his assistants
for the customary coaches’ huddle, then turned and went straight to the bench for some choice remarks. He had already offered a few as the Rockets headed off the court, but when he got to the huddle, he said plenty, with his nodding before he returned to his coaches as his players clapped.
The Spurs led 47-24 at the time, but Udoka seemed to have much more to say about the effort than the missed shots that piled up and helped lead to the lopsided score. When he was through, no one wondered what was on his mind. The Rockets even took 10 points off that largest lead, seemingly having
gotten the message.
Measuring up
The Rockets were intentionally shorthanded. They also looked short. Very short.
That was because they began the game with 6-5 Jae’Sean Tate on 7-4 Victor Wembanyama, and later gave the assignment to 6-7 Jermaine Samuels Jr.
Along the way, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengün had turns on Wembanyama. The Rockets, Tate especially, did a credible job on him. Wembanyama missed all five shots he attempted in the first half. He had seven points at the half, hitting free throws off fouls committed by Amen
Thompson and Jock Landale.
But it showed something about Wembanyama’s play as a towering perimeter player and Udoka’s confidence in his wing defenders that he would give that assignment to someone that looks Wembanyama in the chest. That would bring another indication that he will happily keep switching, letting smaller players deal with the 7-footers.
Games start at 7:10
The Rockets thought they had started badly on Monday. This was another level of bad start.
That was not unexpected with three starters sitting out. But while the Rockets clanged shots, they took away nothing, ending any doubt about the way things would go before everyone could get sweaty.
The Spurs made 6 of their first 8 shots, with Wembanyama getting the only misses and Vassell knocking down his first three 3-pointers. San Antonio led 14-0 before the Rockets scored.
It was all the make-shift Rockets could do to score before the Astros and Rangers 280 miles up the road. The Rockets went more than five minutes before getting their first field goal, a Tate reverse. They missed their first seven 3pointers before Jock Landale made one early in the second quarter.
It cannot quite be said that the Rockets without their summer additions, VanVleet and Brooks, looked like last season’s Rockets because rookies Amen Thompson and Cam
Whitmore started in the backcourt. But it was familiar.