Spurs at Rockets
The streaking San Antonio Spurs seek their eighth consecutive victory
when they visit the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day. San Antonio has
won by an average of 21.4 points during its hot stretch and pummeled the
Minnesota Timberwolves 108-83 on Wednesday.
The rout of Minnesota was the Spurs' fourth victory by 20 or more points during the streak and they also defeated Washington by 19. "I think we're competing at a high level," San Antonio power forward LaMarcus Aldridge said after Wednesday's victory. "We're paying attention to detail, playing good defense and as long as we keep doing that, things should go well for us." Houston is 10-5 since starting 5-10 but dropped a disappointing 104-101 decision to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. "We can't have mental lapses where we do everything the right way for a couple possessions and go back to just taking it easy on teams," center Dwight Howard said after the loss. "We have to do a better job of playing the same way for 48 minutes."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CW35 (San Antonio), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE SPURS (25-5): After holding Indiana star Paul George to seven points on 1-of-14 shooting on Monday, reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard was at it again by helping hold Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins to 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting on Wednesday. Leonard finished with 19 points but was headed toward a rare low-scoring effort until he scored 12 fourth-quarter points on 5-of-7 shooting. "Nobody's perfect all the time in 48 minutes," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "I don't worry about why he didn't score in this quarter or that quarter. That happens to every player. He got his 19 points and he was great in the fourth quarter."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (15-15): Small forward Trevor Ariza is experiencing a shooting funk and is just 6-of-20 from the field and averaging 6.5 points over the last two games. He missed all eight of his 3-point attempts in the loss to Orlando and is shooting a meager 31.8 percent from behind the arc this season while shooting a career-worst 38.3 percent overall. Standout guard James Harden is averaging 33.5 points on 21-of-34 shooting over the past two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have won the past three meetings after the Rockets emerged victorious in the previous six matchups.
2. San Antonio SG Danny Green made three 3-pointers against Minnesota after going 11-of-47 over the previous 12 games.
3. Houston PG Patrick Beverley is 7-of-25 shooting over the past three games.