It may be just the second game of an 82-game regular season, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early for the San Antonio Spurs to get a bad taste out of their mouths. The bad taste in question would be their opening night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which featured some dreadful shooting from the Silver and Black and included a putrid 2nd quarter where they went just 3/21 from the field.
While their opponent tonight, the Houston Rockets, aren’t considered to be in the same tier as OKC and San Antonio,
they still boast a formidable roster built around the older, yet still effective enigma that is Kevin Durant and a mix of younger talent. The Rockets went 52-30 in Durant’s first year, which featured drama off the court in-season and injury woes before the season even started with the loss of starting point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear that cost him his season. VanVleet is back in the fold now though and Houston is hoping that having a proper point guard in place alongside Durant, do-it-all big man Alperen Sengun, and other young talents in Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson can at least give them a fighting chance in the Western conference.
San Antonio Spurs (0-1) at Houston Rockets (1-0)
October 23 2026 | 8:30 PM CT
Watch: Amazon Prime | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Line: San Antonio -6.5
Spurs Injuries: De’Aaron Fox, wrist (game-time decision), Keldon Johnson, laceration (game-time decision), Tobias Harris, calf (OUT), Jayden Quaintance, (OUT)
Rockets Injuries: Steven Adams, calf (day to day)
What to watch for
- In their own home/season opener against yet another Texas opponent the Dallas Mavericks, Houston got an idea of they were missing last year with the absence of Fred VanFleet. Due largely in part to VanVleet’s injury, the Rockets played much of last year without a true, proven point guard to run their offense, relying instead on Durant and other wing players to handle the majority of the ball-security and playmaking. That arrangement led to mixed results, as the Rockets were one of the worst teams in the league last year at both protecting the ball (14.4 turnovers per game, ranked 24th) and bottom 10 in assists per game. VanVleet wasted no time showing Houston what they were missing last season, as he had 11 assists and 0 turnovers in 29 minutes in the 128-110 win over the Mavericks.
- No one should have a worst taste in their mouth than Victor Wembanyama, who was practically non-existent on offense against the Thunder with a 1/13 shooting performance. Wembanyama is a generation-defining player on the defensive side of the ball and has made significant strides as an offensive player since coming into the league, but he occassionally still gets in his own head on that end of the floor, something he alluded to following the loss. With guys still finding their legs and getting their game-wind up at the dawn of a new season, there’s no reason to think that Game 1 was anything but an aberration for the French Wonder. Wembanyama averaged 23 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and nearly 3 blocks a game in four games against Houston last season.
- The highly anticipated three-guard line-up made its debut against the Thunder to somewhat mixed results. While all three had solid individual games, nothing they did was able to get the San Antonio offense out of the mud. The most glaring deficiency that was on display though was that none of them are really super willing 3-pt shooters. They shot a lackluster 5/14 from behind the arc. All 5 of the makes and 12 of those attempts came from Castle, who can get hot from time to time but really isn’t known for his shooting prowess, while Harper and Fox both went 0/2. While the bulk of the blame falls on Wembanyama’s shoulders for his poor showing in that season opener, being surrounded by good-not-great shooters who are all at their best trying to get downhill can certainly help opposing defenses keep one foot a bit closer to both the paint and Wembanyama.
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