The San Antonio Spurs had already lost the season, but their long losing streak before their annual rodeo road trip was the bottom of the barrel.
However, the Spurs experienced a run of success over the course of two games. First, in the final game of their nine-game road trip, San Antonio beat the Utah Jazz 102-94 to end their worst-ever 16-game losing streak. After that, the Spurs defeated the Indiana Pacers 110-99 on Thursday, bringing back guards Devin Vassell and Tre Jones.
After Vassell underwent left knee surgery, the Spurs were without him for two months. The Spurs will open a back-to-back against the Houston Rockets on Saturday at home. The Spurs appeared rejuvenated with Jones back in the rotation after missing the previous five games with left foot soreness.
Even though Vassell and Jones had to play a certain number of minutes, they found ways to help the win. Vassell posted 18 focuses in north of 22 minutes while Jones contributed five helps and four bounce back shortly. In addition to Vassell’s 19.4 points per game, which ranks second on the team behind Keldon Johnson (21.8), the Spurs were deficient in Jones’ verve.
Johnson missed Saturday’s game against Indiana because of a foot injury, so the Spurs are still not completely healthy. They are just a little ahead of the Rockets in the Western Conference standings. However, San Antonio has already won two games against the Rockets, and given that this is their first taste of winning in a row since the middle of December, it’s easy to see why their confidence is so high.
The Rockets’ 113-99 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday marked their 11th defeat in a row, making them the NBA team with the longest losing streak. Houston won on Dec. 13 to end a 13-game losing streak and has lost 31 of its last 35 games.
Kevin Porter Jr., a Rockets guard, returned against the Grizzlies after missing 20 games with an injury, but the team and Porter Jr. did not fare well. In the defeat, Porter managed just 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists despite missing 8 of 11 shots.
He admitted that he wasn’t quite at full strength, but the Rockets were in a bad spot, so they decided to play again.
