San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
‘Beast’ keeps Houston at bay
Poeltl’s size and energy help avert embarrassing sweep by undermanned foe
Better than perhaps anyone else in the Spurs’ locker room, Dejounte Murray knows what can happen when Jakob Poeltl is at his best.
The two future Spurs were once Pac-12 rivals in college, Murray at Washington and Poeltl at Utah.
To hear Murray tell it, one of the best reasons to declare for the NBA draft in 2016 was that he would not have to share a conference with the 7-foot Austrian again.
“He was a beast,” Murray said. “He gave us hell.”
In danger of capsizing again Saturday at the AT&T Center against a scrappy Houston team that barely had enough players to make a legal roster, the Spurs unleashed the beast that is Poeltl.
The backup center’s 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks — and as importantly, his endless tank of energy — helped keep the Spurs stabilized until they could pull out a 103-91 victory in the fourth quarter.
“He did more than keep us afloat,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He was the star of the game.”
With Poeltl grappling with the smaller Rockets, DeMar DeRozan coming to life for 24 points despite a rough shooting afternoon, and Murray adding an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double with three steals, the Spurs survived against the makeshift Rockets to split a two-game home series.
Two nights earlier, the Rockets brought nine healthy players into the AT&T Center and walked out with a 109-105 victory that left the Spurs smarting until tipoff Saturday.
Houston was even more shorthanded in the rematch, in danger of being unable to suit up the mini
mum eight players required to play.
About 90 minutes before tipoff, the NBA at last rubber-stamped Wednesday’s multiteam trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn, allowing the Rockets to use one of the players obtained in that deal — forward Rodions Kurucs — as their eighth man.
Having played all of 16 minutes with the Nets this season, and without the benefit of a single practice with Houston, Kurucs nevertheless logged 21 minutes Saturday and missed all but one of his five field goals.
That the bare-bones Rockets pushed the Spurs to the limit for the second time in three nights Saturday was a testament to their character.
“They deserve a lot of credit,” Popovich said. “They had what, eight guys? They played hard; they competed every minute of both games.”
Before the game, Houston coach Stephen Silas noted that were it not for Mason Jones — an undrafted rookie out of Arkansas on a two-way contract — the Rockets would have had zero plausible point guards available.
Jones drew his first career start and promptly pumped in 24 points, including a 6-of-8 showing from 3-point range.
With Jones doing his best Steph Curry impression, Christian Wood became Kevin Durant, turning in a 24-point, 18-rebound, three-block line for his second straight monster game against the Spurs.
The Spurs countered with a beast of their own.
Poeltl entered the game midway through the first quarter and immediately began making plays to keep the Spurs in the game.
“It really came down to being aggressive, trying to make plays, trying to
make energy plays out there,” Poeltl said.
Poeltl scored on post moves against Wood. He hit the boards for putbacks. He put in a lefthanded layup over the smaller P.J. Tucker.
Poeltl even converted a free throw to complete a 3-point play early in the second quarter, making him 4 of 16 from the foul line this season.
More than that, Poeltl simply played hard on a day when the Spurs needed somebody to.
“He was a junkyard dog,” Popovich said. “He played his ass off.”
Poeltl’s grit helped keep the Spurs in the game until their shots began to fall.
After opening 1 of 16 from 3-point range, the Spurs ended the third quarter with back-to-back long balls from Patty Mills and Murray to take a 75-72 lead into the fourth.
From there, the Spurs finally rediscovered the rhythm they found on a their recently completed 4-1 road trip, playing with pace, turning defense into offense, and knocking
down open shots.
A 10-0 run, capped by a slithery DeRozan bucketand-foul in the paint, gave the Spurs a 100-85 edge with 2:57 to play.
“The fourth quarter was great for us,” Popovich said. “That’s what we were used to seeing on the road. I don’t know where it was in that first game (Thursday), and it took us a while to get going tonight. But we finally got it.”
The Spurs probably would not have been in a position to win in the fourth quarter if not for Poeltl.
The switch-heavy Rockets are a bad matchup for starter LaMarcus Aldridge, who had four points in 17 minutes.
That left the bulk of the center duties to the only other player taller than 6-foot-8 available to Popovich.
Poeltl logged a seasonhigh 30 minutes and responded with season bests in points, rebounds and blocks.
“I think that is sort of what my role has to be on the team,” Poeltl said. “It’s going to be a little different from game to game, but tonight they were undersized. I really tried to get in there and be aggressive on the glass, use my size against them. It really worked out.”
Poeltl was doing that until the final horn Saturday.
After Houston closed to within 10 points on a Jones 3-pointer with 2:16 remaining, Poeltl beat a handful of Rockets to a key offensive rebound after a Murray misfire.
That allowed the Spurs to retain possession and run more clock.
“The way he played tonight is him, and I think he has the ability to be consistent with that,” Mills said.
The Spurs are hoping to see more of this Poeltl going forward. Murray, meanwhile, can envision this version of Poeltl by looking back.
He is glad he no longer has to share a college conference with the “junkyard dog.” Only a locker room.
“I’ve been a fan of
Jakob for a while,” Murray said. “I’m glad we’re teammates now.”