Spurs' Malaki Branham Reveals Reason Behind Loss vs. Rockets

The Houston Rockets were too much for the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

Jeremy Brener | Mar 6, 2024

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San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are back in the loss column after falling to the Houston Rockets 114-101 on Tuesday night at Toyota Center.

In the loss, the Spurs committed 18 turnovers compared to the Rockets' five, which certainly made a difference throughout the game. It also forced the Spurs to play transition defense throughout the night, which was difficult to play against the fast Rockets.

"We weren't getting stops. We were trading buckets. If we missed a shot, getting back on transition defense was hard," Malaki Branham said postgame. "Turned over the ball a couple of times. That's kind of why the game slipped away from us. I feel like we had a couple of good shots too that just didn't go in but when that happens we have to get back and run in transition defense.

"Transition defense, that’s just the biggest thing trying to keep improving every game. Transition defense, stopping the ball so they don’t get easy buckets.”

The Spurs gave up 70 paint points compared to scoring just 44, and many of those buckets came off layups that the Rockets were easily able to get to with the poor transition defense from San Antonio.

Spurs Lose Scuffle With Rockets

While the Spurs were able to stay in the contest for most of the night thanks to strong shooting, the defense is what ultimately prevented them from achieving the win.

Now, the Spurs go back to the drawing board in hopes of improving when they face the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. CT.

Published Mar 6, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.