San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich did not try to sugarcoat his team's 114-101 loss on the road Tuesday night at the hands of the Houston Rockets. It simply isn't his style. In true Popovich fashion, he honestly summed up the game the way he saw it.
“That's what you call a royal a** whuppin', right there,” Popovich said after the game, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
“They deserve a lot of credit. They were physical from the get-go 'till the end of the game…It put us in mud and we didn't respond very well and you've got the outcome,” the Spurs mentor added.
The Rockets pulled away from the Spurs in the second half, as Houston outscored Victor Wembanyama and company in the final two quarters, 67-48. There was no thorn bigger on the side of the Spurs than Houston center Alperen Sengum, who scored 30 of his game-high 45 points after the half. Sengun left no doubt as to who had a better performance between him and Wembanyama, who mustered just 10 points, but also had 11 rebounds, three assists, and seven blocks.
The Spurs were sloppy with the ball versus the Rockets. San Antonio repeatedly shot itself in the foot with one error after another, finishing the game with 19 turnovers to only seven by Houston. Houston easily won the possession battle, with 105 attempts from the field, while the Spurs only had 87. San Antonio is still going to need some time before it becomes a force again in the NBA, and games like the loss to the Spurs underscores that.
The Spurs will look to bounce back Thursday night when they visit the Sacramento Kings.
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