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SAN ANTONIO – DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Dejounte Murray scored 18 points and 10 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs rallied to beat the undersized Houston Rockets 103-91 on Saturday (Sunday Manila time), breaking a four-game loss at home. streak.
Murray scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including a breakaway dunk that put the Spurs up 97-85 with 3:18 remaining after taking the ball from Mason Jones in the middle of the court.
Rockets center Christian Wood scored 24 points and 17 rebounds, and Jones scored 24 points, a season high. Ben McLemore had a season-high 21 points with 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
Houston was on the verge of not having eight available players as required by the league, but hit the minimum in the last hour. The Rockets had seven healthy players after Sterling Brown was ruled out due to a lower leg injury, but Rodions Kurucs became eligible before game time when the NBA approved the highly successful trade involving James. Harden. Houston acquired Kurucs, Victor Oladipo and Dante Exum, along with several draft picks and draft changes for disgruntled Harden on Wednesday. Oladipo and Exum weren’t with the team, and the Rockets were left without John Wall, Eric Gordon, Demarcus Cousins, Brown and three others due to injuries.
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Despite having few people, the Rockets held a 10-point lead in the first half. Houston built the lead on 3-point shooting and finished 12 of 32 from long range.
Teams opened slowly on a rare start in the afternoon to close out a two-game set in San Antonio.
The teams opened the game with a 0-for-5 combined. Wood missed his first three shots before a three-point play ignited a 5-for-9 outburst that led to his second straight double-double in the first half against San Antonio.
TIP-INS
Rockets: Brown was ruled out about an hour before the game. He had 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes in Houston’s 109-103 win on Thursday. … Wood entered the game averaging 23.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. … Kurucs’s first attempt and the basket came as he snapped to the basket to lay a layup off a pass from behind Wood’s back with 5:41 left in the first quarter.
Spurs: Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon remains out, along with backup center Drew Eubanks, due to the league’s health and safety protocols. … DeRozan was charged with a technical foul four minutes into the second quarter after hitting the ball out of bounds after making a layup. DeRozan was upset, no foul was called on Tucker, who defended him on the plate.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Rockets: Complete a three-game road trip against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Spurs: Open a two-game road trip Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
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