Spurs at Rockets
The San Antonio Spurs scored a season-high 130 points the last time they
played Houston and aim to beat the host Rockets for the sixth time in
the past seven meetings when they meet on Saturday. San Antonio
registered a 31-point victory in the beat down on Jan. 27 and is on a
hot streak entering this encounter with 10 wins in its last 11 contests.
The Spurs are 6-1 on the eight-game "Rodeo Road Trip" after rolling to a 96-78 win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday and have a gaudy 21-9 away record, second best in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors (28-5). "This is the best game since we came back from (the All-Star) break," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. "We had been really spotty and undisciplined, but what really helped us is that they are so good at execution. It actually helped us because they used the whole clock and we had to play (defense) over and over." San Antonio will certainly need to apply defensive pressure against Houston All-Star guard James Harden, who rolled up 46 points as the Rockets overcame a 21-point, third-quarter deficit in Thursday's 119-105 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Harden has 19 40-point outings over the past two seasons - the most in the NBA during that span.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, KENS (San Antonio), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE SPURS (49-9): All-Star small forward Kawhi Leonard displayed that the calf injury that sidelined him for three games is no longer an issue by scoring 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the win over Utah. Leonard's defensive presence is already well established but the Spurs have given up an average of 85 points in two games since his return after allowing an average of 109.7 during his absence. All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been in a scoring funk since the All-Star break by averaging 13.4 points in the five games after averaging 25.5 points in his final six games prior to the break.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (29-29): Harden has recorded back-to-back 40-point outings as he scored 42 points in Tuesday's loss to the Jazz before the big effort against Portland, which included 19 fourth-quarter points. However, he hasn't operated so freely against the Spurs and is averaging just 19.7 points in this season's three meetings -- scoring 20 points in two of the contests and 17 in the other. Harden is averaging 34.4 points in five games since the All-Star break and has scored 33 or more points in seven of the past 11 games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have averaged 125.5 points while winning the last two meetings after Houston won an 88-84 defensive struggle in the season's first matchup.
2. Houston C Dwight Howard, who is averaging 15.3 points and 10.7 rebounds against the Spurs this season, has recorded five double-doubles in the past six games.
3. San Antonio C Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds against the Jazz for his second double-double in four games.