Hot shooting guides Spurs past Rockets

Devin Vassell scored a game-high 26 points and Doug McDermott added 16 off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs parlayed a prolific perimeter shooting display into a 124-105 road victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday. Vassell and McDermott combined to shoot 16-for-28 overall and 9-for-14 on 3-point attempts to pace the Spurs, who have won both of their meetings with the Rockets this season. San Antonio, which ended a mini two-game losing streak, shot 55.4 percent while converting 17 of 34 3-point tries to send Houston to its third consecutive defeat. The Rockets' shooting paled in comparison. After missing 26 of 29 shot from beyond the arc on Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston shot 5-for-24 from long distance on Monday. The Rockets also missed 11 free throws to negate their plus-11 margin in field-goal attempts courtesy of the Spurs' 19 turnovers. Alperen Sengun paced the Rockets with 22 points while the starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. totaled 28 points while misfiring on 19 of 28 shots including 6 of 8 3-point tries. The Spurs, playing without leading scorer Keldon Johnson (hamstring), were hot from the start. They secured their first double-digit lead at 16-6 when Vassell and Keita Bates-Diop hit consecutive treys, and the Spurs extended the margin to 11 points before Houston rallied in the second period. The Rockets turned a 14-2 run into a 54-50 lead, a spurt highlighted by a Kenyon Martin Jr. dunk out of the pick-and-roll and a transition dunk from Bruno Fernando off a behind-the-back pass from Daishen Nix. Houston extended to a five-point lead just prior to the intermission, but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Stanley Johnson cut that margin to 62-60. That hoop set the stage for a breakout third quarter in which the Spurs shot 11-for-16 overall and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. The Spurs punctuated the period with a 24-8 closing surge to establish a 92-76 lead. The run was capped by a pair of Vassell jumpers off high screens, the second coming after Vassell forced Rockets reserve center Usman Garuba to take the defensive assignment on the perimeter before sinking a 3-pointer. McDermott was one of five reserves to score in double figures for the Spurs. --Field Level Media