By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Houston Rockets defeated the San Antonio Spurs 111–106 after trailing by as many as 16 points.
San Antonio’s offense stalled in the second half, largely due to the Rockets’ defensive impact on Victor Wembanyama. The French star was limited to 14 points on 5-of-21 shooting and missed all seven of his three-point attempts.
After the game, Durant addressed the media.
“He’s still trying to develop his shot. You can tell he’s working through it, trying to figure it out,” Durant said. “All game long, we forced him into tough fadeaway shots over us. He made a few early on, but overall we made him take contested shots. He’s at his most dangerous when he uses his length around the rim. In those situations, he’s much more threatening than when he’s playing around the perimeter. When his shot goes in, it looks great, but we did a good job of getting a hand up and making him miss, which allowed us to get out in transition. I also think we did a good job of getting him into foul trouble.”
The Rockets’ veteran superstar also encouraged his teammates to be more aggressive from beyond the arc.
“When you’re moving, you catch the ball and you’re open, you have to take that shot. It’s that simple. Shoot with confidence, shoot quickly, trust yourself. I think Jabari, Tari, and I can all take more threes. Dorian will start knocking them down too. And I also believe Alpi can take more three-point shots. All of us can be better from behind the arc“, Kevin Durant said.