Takeaways: Jabari Smith Jr. has career night as Rockets lose to Keldon Johnson, Spurs

Ben DuBose
·4 min read
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After leading for much of the first half, things quickly spiraled for the Rockets in Thursday’s second half at San Antonio — punctuated by an epic poster dunk from Alperen Sengun that somehow didn’t count. The Spurs won the game, 118-109 (box score).

San Antonio (7-18) snapped its 11-game losing streak with the victory, while Houston (7-18) fell somewhat back to Earth after having won two of its previous three games and four of its last seven. Ultimately, it was a battle of rebuilding teams who should each pick high in the first-round order of the 2023 NBA draft, pending lottery results.

Rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. continued his strong run with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting (69.2%), including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers (57.1%). Unfortunately, it was offset by a poor shooting night from Houston’s starting backcourt, with Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. combining to make just 10-of-33 shots (30.3%).

Big man Alperen Sengun had 16 points (47.1% FG) and 11 rebounds for the Rockets in 29 minutes, but he also had three turnovers, including one on the controversial dunk that didn’t count.

The Spurs were led by third-year forward Keldon Johnson, who had 31 points and 7 rebounds while shooting an impressive 14-of-20 from the field (70.0%) and 3-of-5 on 3-pointers (60.0%). As a team, the Spurs made 55.4% of their shots overall, 36.1% on 3-pointers, and 86.7% on free throws — well ahead of Houston in all of those categories.

Scroll on for highlights, analysis, and postgame interviews from San Antonio. The Rockets return to action Sunday versus Milwaukee for the start of a season-long homestand of seven games, with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Central from Toyota Center.

Highlights

Analysis and Interviews

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Story originally appeared on Rockets Wire