The former top three in Texas
The former Texas top three all missed the playoffs last season, which is absolutely rare for fans. However, the three teams are in completely different situations, the Spurs have just begun to rot, the Rockets have basically finished rebuilding, and the Lone Rangers are hated for thousands of years, but the team packs up and is still a playoff-level team. The Rockets started a rebuild after Harden left, but the team did not perform well, collecting a lot of talented teenagers over the years, but did not find a culture to win.
So, this offseason, the Rockets hired Uduka as head coach and signed Van Jordan and Dillon Brooks with high salaries, hoping that the team could rebuild the winning culture. As for the Spurs, they got Ventanyama, nothing is more important than that, and I believe that fans who watched the Ventanyama game know that he is an existence that can change the future of the team.
Spurs resist rocket reversal
In this preseason game, the Spurs welcomed the challenge of the Rockets at home, Venbanyama and Vassell and Johnson all played, and the Rockets' side, Van Jordan and Dillon and Jaylen Green did not play. At the beginning of the first quarter, the Rockets fell into a scoring drought, Smith scored 6 points and 2 rebounds, the team only scored 13 points, while the Spurs bombed 32 points, Vassell scored 12 points alone, Collins 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and Venbanyama also had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on the free throw, and the team directly took a 19-point lead.
After returning from the second quarter, the Rockets gradually regained their form, Tate had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, Smith scored another 6 points and 2 rebounds, the team bombed 31 points in a single quarter, but the Spurs also scored 28 points, Vassell scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and had already bombed 25 points at halftime, and the Spurs led the Rockets by 16 points 60-44. In the second half, the Rockets continued to make efforts, Smith scored 8 points and 1 rebound on 3-of-4 shooting, Williams scored 8 points and 7 rebounds, the Rockets scored 31 points in a single quarter, Venbanyama finally scored in athletic battles, and scored 2 three-pointers, but the difference was narrowed to 8 points by the Rockets.
In the final quarter of the game, Venbanyama and Vassell did not play, and the Rockets' Whitmore scored consecutive points to help the team close the gap, but Brannam on the Spurs bench stepped up and Chambany also hit a key 3-pointer to help stabilize the situation. With the final whistle sounding, the San Antonio Spurs finally defeated the Houston Rockets 117-103.
Venbanyama collects helpers
The San Antonio Spurs won the game, and Ventanya was not in good hands, only 3-of-10 shooting, but 2-of-5 three-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws still scored 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks, and played only 20 minutes. In the eyes of many people, the Spurs will be the team of Ventanyama next season, which is true, but there is another good helper around Ventanyama, that is, Devin Vasser, who successfully renewed his contract for 135 million in five years in the Spurs offseason, and he has grown into the second in charge of the team.
In this game, Vassell played 25 minutes, shooting 8 of 14, 5 of 10 from three-point range, scoring 25 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and Vassell in the preseason seemed to be an efficiency machine, and his personal scoring ability was vividly displayed. Sohan continued to play as a point guard, shooting 2 of 5 with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Collins 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and Keldon Johnson only made 3 shots, with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, you know, he was the Spurs' team boss last season. The Rockets' scout Smith also had 20 points and five rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting, Whitmore had 17 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Williams had 19 points and eight rebounds.