The Houston Rockets have been arguably the biggest disappointment of the NBA season so far, a preseason title contender that ended up firing head coach Kevin McHale a few short weeks into the season. The aftermath of that decision has not seen a return to form — Houston entered its Christmas matchup with the 25-5 San Antonio Spurs at 15-15 and No. 7 in the West. Worse yet, they looked like a team prone to defensive lapses and a general lack of cohesiveness.
The Rockets' 88-84 win won't exactly tilt opinions on their quality, but it will stand as an impressive performance with the potential to turn into a longer run. Houston has now one four of its last five (including a win over the Los Angeles Clippers) and snapped San Antonio's winning streak at seven games by holding the title contenders to their lowest point total of the season.
It was a surprising showing for a Rockets squad that came into the contest ranked in the bottom 10 for points allowed per possession. Meanwhile, the Spurs came to the Toyota Center with the third-best offensive efficiency in the league. San Antonio got a reasonable showings from its starting frontcourt of Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Tim Duncan, but guards Tony Parker and Danny Green combined for all of seven points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field. The perimeter struggles were considerable — they shot just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc, including 2-of-12 for the reserves. San Antonio missed an oddly high number of open looks, but the Rockets also brought considerable energy compared to their average outing this season. A group that has too often been sluggish swarmed and rotated in a way that suggests the capacity for improvement regardless of how much the aging Dwight Howard has to give.
At the other end, Houston got enough from James Harden in the second half to walk away with the win. The often-frustrating guard followed a two-point first half and 13-point second quarter for the team with 18 second-half points, doing just enough to make his mostly unimpressive 7-of-21 shooting night look like a gutsy performance rather than an iffy one. Otherwise, the Rockets were dependent on minor but efficient shooting nights from role players like Jason Terry (12 points on three field-goal attempts) to cobble together scoring.
The Spurs still had a chance to win late, but a questionable choice from Gregg Popovich and poor execution doomed their chances. Down 88-84 after a missed Kawhi Leonard jumper with 38 seconds remaining in regulation, Popovich opted not to have his players foul the Rockets to extend the game. James Harden ended the next possession with a missed layup but left only 13 seconds for the Spurs to make up a two-score deficit. San Antonio then got pressured out of the timeout and failed to get a shot off until two ticks remained, bringing Duncan's Christmas record to an unfestive 1-5.
Perhaps that's why Pop didn't let anyone eat dinner before leaving the arena.
Bah, humbug!
The Spurs will be fine — they're in firm control of the conference's No. 2 spot and still haven't lost at home. But this win could lend some confidence to that Rockets if they're able to turn their impressive defensive effort into a new normal. Houston is still No. 7 in the West, but they're now only one game out of homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The next stretch of the schedule will be a challenge, but the opportunity is there. Let's see if they've turned a corner.
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