Rockets at Spurs
The Houston Rockets hope to have star guard James Harden available when they visit the powerful San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Harden has missed back-to-back games with a sprained ankle and is waiting on the swelling to further subside but indicated to reporters that he hopes to be medically cleared to play against the Spurs. “I will keep icing it and getting treatment and hopefully be ready for Christmas Day,” Harden said.
San Antonio has the fourth-best record in the NBA but one of its six defeats was against the Rockets – a 112-106 home loss on Nov. 30. The Spurs dug themselves a 23-point hole but were unable to recover despite 27 points from Tony Parker. The standout point guard has put together consecutive strong outings since returning from a shin injury and is averaging 24.5 points and eight assists during the stretch after tallying 26 points in Monday’s victory over the Toronto Raptors.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Houston, CW35 (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (18-11): Center Dwight Howard will again be asked to do yeoman work inside if Harden is unable to play. He is averaging 32 points and on 23-of-34 shooting in the two contests and scored 20 or more points in six of the past nine games. Howard is averaging 18.7 points and 13.3 rebounds but has often acquiesced to the Harden on the offensive end and focused more on his rebounding and defensive prowess. He also doesn’t want to hear anything about Houston being shorthanded. “We can’t use that as an excuse,” Howard said after Monday’s loss to Dallas. “It is five-on-five so we’re not going to make that excuse.”
ABOUT THE SPURS (22-6): Struggling Danny Green didn’t start against Toronto but rediscovered his shooting stroke while playing 24 minutes off the bench. Green hit 4-of-6 3-pointers and scored 14 points against the Raptors to match his top scoring output since Nov. 23. The guard had failed to reach double digits in 11 of 14 games before his solid contributions against Toronto. “I didn’t bench him because he wasn’t making shots,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. “You don’t bench people because they’re not making shots. We changed the look and changed the rotation a little bit. It could change again.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Houston has won two straight meetings after San Antonio won the previous four.
2. Spurs SG Marco Belinelli is second in the NBA with 51.1 percent accuracy from 3-point range.
3. Rockets PG Patrick Beverley will be out 4-to-6 weeks after undergoing surgery on his right hand.