Victor Wembanyama pointed the way at both ends in San Antonio’s impressive home opener | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images San Antonio secures victory from the free throw line after Houston’s furious comeback in the fourth. The Spurs (1-1), in their home opener against the Rockets (1-2), held off a rally from the visitors that lasted the entire fourth quarter and won in heart-stopping fashion 109-106. San Antonio leveraged a 20-3 run, pairing dogged defense not seen in these parts since the 2010s, and its usual sharing of the ball on offense (15 assists on their first 24 field goals and 23 of 39 overall) to go up 21 at the half before needing all of that cushion in the second half to secure a hard-earned triumph. Jeremy Sochan (17 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals) had his second productive outing to start the young season, while Victor Wembanyama (29 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks). Keldon Johnson’s (16 points and 8 rebounds) persistence and grit preserved the San Antonio lead in the second half, and journeyman Chris Paul (9 assists) worked well with Wembanyama in tandem. Houston’s Jalen Green (29 points and 5 assists, having signed a recent contract extension, was the team’s brightest star tonight. San Antonio’s hot first half managed to keep Dillon (16 points) Brooks from being more of an irritant, but he did quite a bit of damage in the second half, and the Rockets’ other important contributors, Fred Van Vleet (18 points and 7 assists) and Alperen Sengun (6 points and 5 rebounds) were relatively muted. While San Antonio had its way on the offensive end of an exciting first quarter, the Rockets countered with a flurry of threes from their starters to keep themselves close. Sochan (10 points) and Wembanyama (6 points), in particular, stood out brightest for the hosts, while Houston kept prevented a blowout with a handful of threes. A workmanlike 12 minutes of effort netted the Spurs a seven point lead after one. The Spurs committed some unforced turnovers in the second quarter to cede points to Houston. San Antonio then slowly but surely mounted an 13-0 run punctuated by Zach Collins free throws - while keeping the Rockets off the scoreboard for what turned out to be a whopping nine minutes. Sochan seemingly was everywhere there was a loose ball or a carom. A pair of lobs from Paul to Wembanyama put Houston in a hole, and the Spurs went to the break up 62-41. San Antonio struggled in the third period - allowing the Rockets to quickly slice that deficit in half. When the offense betrayed them, they continued to assert themselves defensively and on the boards. Keldon Johnson used his brutish drives to the rim to get some crucial buckets and stabilize the Spurs. After San Antonio stopped the comeback in its tracks, Wembanyama (7 points) resumed showing off his offensive repertoire to make it an 87-69 game after three. Observations: San Antonio forced a turnover on Houston’s first possession! #progress After re-watching Thursday’s game, I think Reggie Miller still can’t pronounce Victor’s last name correctly. What would be the Spurs’ equivalent of Freddie Freeman’s walkoff grandslam? Manu Ginobili’s dunk on Bosh in 2014? Roger Mason’s game-winning three on Christmas Day in 2008? Encouragingly in the first half, Zach Collins backed down his shorter defender for a nice lay-up. When the action ground down to a slog late in the opening half, San Antonio gutted out defensive possessions and scrapped for loose balls - winning a fair amount of them - especially during Houston’s nine minute scoring drought. Julian Champagnie has an underrated second bounce - following a miss and tapping the ball back in before his defender could gather himself early in the first half. Victor Ease: At the start of the second, he executed the Kevin McHale up-and-under move and extended his arms for a dunk from about nine feet out. Normal humans do these on Nerf hoops. Shades of Chris Paul - New Orleans version: Midway through an exciting first frame, he led Sochan with a nify pocket pass for an acrobatic lay-in. Sequence of the Game #1: In some briskly action from the tip, Alperen Sengun attempted a meek lay-up on Wembanyama and was summarily turned away, which allowed Champagnie to step into a pretty three in transition. It was really appropriate, given how long they worked together, for Bill Land to retire with Sean Elliott’s jersey number! Sequence of the Game #2: Early in the second, Wembanyama re-posted himself on the right block and found a slashing Stephon Castle for what Elliott could only describe as a “ferocious finish.” Houston rookie Reed Sheppard already has a well-defined mid-season beard going. The teams went hard at each other throughout the first stanza with Wembanyama hitting a logo three and disrupting several Sengun attempts. Van Vleet had a pair of threes to pace the visitors’ 4-for-5 start, while Wembanyama had two of his own from really really far. Paul’s stepback three put San Antonio up seven, and Sengun threw his hands up in disgust. Houston’s six threes kept them close. Blake Wesley received some first quarter minutes and found Keldon Johnson for a corner three and in traffic to a cutting Sochan for a lay-up. He then cooled his jets on a drive to get himself a well-earned bucket. San Antonio left the first up 38-31. The Spurs committed two turnovers on the offensive end and gave back half of their lead. Malaki Branham sparked a 6-0 run in response with deft handling and shooting. Both teams’ execution went awry over a number of possessions midway until Champagnie tried to slam dunk Sengun into the floor and earned free throws. Harrison Barnes’ wing three made it 53-38. Paul’s pair of lobs (I’m beaming as I type this) to Wembanyama extended the Spurs’ lead to 22. Green’s three ended a 9 minute 6 second drought for Houston, but they went into the half down 21. San Antonio’s achilles heel - the third quarter - reared its head again, as Houston forged a 7-0 run by being physical and forcing turnovers. Brooks and Wembanyama got tied up, which resulted in a jumpball despite Brooks engaging in his typical nonsense. Barnes started the scoring with a tough traditional 3-point play. Sengun’s three and free throw trimmed the deficit to 11. A Castle-Sochan-Collins-Johnson line-up stemmed the tide somewhat. Johnson attacked the rim twice to net two tough layups. Castle converted a difficult drive that would have made Manu Ginobili proud. Wembanyama paired a stepback (a la Dirk) and an and-1 to make it 83-65. Despite their early run, Houston still left the third down 18 after Wembanyama’s audacious buzzer-beating stepback. Van Vleet and Brooks’ threes kickstarted Houston’s fourth quarter comeback. Van Vleet’s three and Cam Whitmore’s transition layup brought the Rockets within seven. Champagnie nearly gave possession away, but scooped up a loose ball to get a lay-up. Green’s knifing layup made it 95-90. Wembanyama’s tip-dunk was answered by a Brooks fadeaway. Brooks and Green’s layups made it a two point game. Wembanyama’s freebies were answered by an air-defying and-1 by Green. In the final 100 seconds, Houston had several chances to take the lead - turning it over and suffering a shot clock violation in succession. Wembanyama’s free throws pushed his team’s to three. Paul punished Brooks’ missed three by - doing something he’s done so many times to Spurs fans over the years - finding Sochan weakside for a key crunchtime bucket. Brooks hit the next three, and Castle was turned away at the rim. Jabari Smith missed two straight jumpers. After a Wembanyama turnover, Green’s pass eluded Whitmore in transition. With the game on the line, the free throw stripe figured prominently into the outcome. The rookie Castle impressively hit both free throws. After Green’s easy lay-in, Johnson connected on both of his free throws. Van Vleet’s lay-up was answered by Castle’s one free throw. Green’s straightaway three fell off to the left, and San Antonio breathed a sigh of relief. For the Rockets fan’s perspective, please visit The Dream Shake. The two combatants face off again in San Antonio on Monday night at 7:00 PM CDT.