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After a couple of days off to ponder what went wrong in their season-opening loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder — poor three-point shooting (duh), coming out too
hyped (according to Mitch Johnson), mind elsewhere (which Victor Wembanyama seemed to admit about himself after the game), or any other reason under the sun — the Spurs have a chance to get the sour taste out of their mouths tonight against another heated rival in the Houston Rockets.
They probably couldn’t have asked for a more disappointing way to start the season, with Wemby having the worst offensive game of his career while Chet Holmgren got a dose of revenge for the playoffs and rookie Aday Mara gave Thunder fans glimpse of a possible future as a Wemby adversary. They also had one of their signature terrible quarters (in this case, the 2nd), sinking them into too deep of a hole to dig out of.
Still, there were some positives to take away: they played much better after halftime, cutting what had been a 26-point deficit to single digits a few times, and the guard trio for the most part pulled their weight on offense (although I’m not sure how much longer it should continue being the starting line-up). The Spurs played about as bad as they could have while the Thunder hardly could have been better, and yet they still stood a change until the waning moments of the game. We know what this team is capable of — they made the Finals, after all — they just need to get right, and now is as good of a time as any.
As for the Rockets, after losing Fred VanVleet and playing their first season with Kevin Durant without a point guard last season, they flew under the radar to 52 wins last season before quietly bowing out in the first round to a Lakers team that was missing Luka Doncic. Now, they too will look to get back on track and prove that even if they aren’t quite on the same tier as the Spurs and Thunder, they have the potential to be top 4 team in the West and a force to be reckoned with.
Pre-game rant
You’ll probably see this again in the Final Score (which I have tonight), but I have mixed opinion about this being one of the Austin games. (Don’t tell Mark!) I don’t like giving up a true home game to an in-state rival, making it easier to bring the crowd closer to a neutral site, and Longhorn Durant having a homecoming of his own may bring in some extra non-Spurs fans as well. But hey! It’s a nationally televised streamed game, so at least I don’t have to listen to those awful Rockets announcers! (Although here’s to hoping Prime’s announcers are better than Noah Eagle and Grant Hill were for NBC/Peacock on Tuesday. Woof.)
San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets (in Austin)
October 23, 2026 | 8:30 PM CT
TV/Streaming: Prime
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