San Antonio Spurs Praise Defense After Horrible 3-Point Campaign vs. Houston Rockets

In a horrible shooting performance, the struggling San Antonio Spurs lost to the Houston Rockets on the road for their 17th straight loss.

The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Houston Rockets on Monday night, 93-82. In one of the lower-scoring games of the season, the Spurs started a traditional-ish lineup of Devin Vassell, Malaki Branham, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and Victor Wembanyama.

The transition from power forward to center has been highly beneficial to Wembanyama, who posted 15 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocks. Since making the transition to center three games ago, Wemby is averaging 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks. 

Malaki Branham grabs a rebound in a crowded paint.  / © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Holding the Rockets to under 100 points is usually a recipe for success, and it should have been for the Spurs. Instead of capitalizing on good team defense, the Spurs went 5-of-41 from deep, including an 0-for-9 performance from Keldon Johnson. The only Spur to make multiple threes was Doug McDermott, who went 2-of-5.

After the game, Gregg Popovich praised the in-state rivals. "They played a great game. We made turnovers, they (Houston) made turnovers, whatever, but they were great," Popovich said. "Just, you know, you got to make a shot in the NBA. You can't shoot 5-41 from three. That's not going to happen."

The Spurs turned the ball over 17 times compared to Houston's 16 turnovers. On average, the Spurs turn the ball over 16.2 times per game and Houston is one of the least-turnover prone teams in the league, so one could actually argue that the Spurs put more pressure on the Rockets.

Regardless of defensive pressure, you have to make shots if you want to win the game. "They played great defense," said Keldon Johnson. "We stuck to the game plan 5-for-41 from three. Can't hit a shot. So defensively I feel like we did a great job. We got great looks but we just couldn't capitalize."

To their credit, the Spurs held Houston to 30 percent shooting from deep and racked up nine steals. Victor Wembanyama contributed all of San Antonio's blocks in the game. ""Our defense was pretty solid. Barely 90 (Houston) points," Wembanyama said. "This is something we need to keep. We don't have a choice. Keep going. Keep grinding. The good thing is that nobody doubts that in the long run, we're going to be the winners."

While there is little doubt around the NBA that the Spurs are on the right trajectory long-term, they have now broken the franchise record with a 17-game losing streak. It has started to take its toll on the young roster, who started the season hoping for a fun campaign. 

"It's definitely frustrating," Johnson said. "We dropped a lot of games we should have won. It's frustrating. We know that it will turn. We know that we put in the work for it. We believe in each other. I wouldn't want to do it with another other group than the group we got."

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At this point in the year, it's not a matter of if things will turn, but when. Everyone in San Antonio now understands that this will not be a winning season, but they have to cobble together some wins eventually. Monday's loss in Houston exemplifies that the blueprint is set for a defensive-minded team that is nearly impossible to score against, but the Spurs need to generate offense of their own.