Houston Rockets (2-0) beat San Antonio Spurs (0-2) 114-110 on the road on Friday, October 23 in a game that stayed within 5 points at every quarter break.
How it stayed close
Neither side ever opened a real gap. The Rockets led by 2 at halftime and by 4 after three, and the fourth quarter (29-29) decided it.
The edge that mattered
The Rockets cashed in 35.9 free throws for every 100 shots, the Spurs only 20.7 and the Rockets shot 55.1% on an effective basis to 52.9% for the Spurs. Getting to the line gave them easy points when the shots were not falling.
The game played at about 101 possessions per team. The Rockets scored 112.5 points per 100 possessions and the Spurs scored 108.6, a difference of 3.9.
Who made the difference
Alperen Sengun (HOU) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (22.9): 29 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast on 10-20 shooting. The team was +3 in the minutes Alperen played.
For the Spurs, De'Aaron Fox was the best of the rest at 17.8: 19 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast on 6-11 shooting.
Victor Wembanyama (25 pts, 13 reb, 2 ast) and Amen Thompson (20 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast) each recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
By our Win Meter this was an upset: The Rockets entered with about a 23% chance.
Across the last 8 meetings in our records, the series is even.
The Rockets are now 2-0, and the Spurs are 0-2. The Rockets last five before this game: L-W-W-L-W.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.