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| Tip of the match San Antonio Spurs -6.5 |
Game total Over 225.5 points |
| Key player prop Victor Wembanyama, over 11.5 rebounds |
Injury alert Tobias Harris (SAS) — Game-Time Decision |
The Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs meet at Moody Center in Austin at 2:30am BST on Saturday, with Kevin Durant back on his old Texas campus and two Southwest Division rivals arriving off very different season openers.
Houston beat Dallas 128-110 on Wednesday, while San Antonio lost 116-104 to Oklahoma City on Tuesday after Victor Wembanyama shot one for 13 from the field.
It is the first of three games the Spurs play at the Austin arena this season as part of the I-35 Series, and San Antonio are the listed home team.
Form Guide
Houston Rockets
1-0 · one game played
Last 5 (2025-26 play-offs vs. Lakers and 2026-27 opener)
L W W L W
128.0PPG
110.0Opp PPG
130.6Off. rating
111.1Def. rating
San Antonio Spurs
0-1 · one game played
Last 5 (2025-26 NBA Finals and 2026-27 opener)
L W L L L
104.0PPG
116.0Opp PPG
102.0Off. rating
113.7Def. rating
Houston's opener was decided by a single quarter, with the Rockets winning the second period 38-12 to lead by 32 at half time.
Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points each, Alperen Sengun added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet handed out 11 assists after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.
Houston won 52 games last season but only 22 of 41 away from Toyota Center, and Ime Udoka's side then went out in the first round against the Lakers.
Tale of the Tape
Houston RocketsSan Antonio Spurs
San Antonio went the other way, trailing by 26 in the first half before opening the third quarter on a 23-9 run.
Mitch Johnson started De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper together alongside Devin Vassell and Wembanyama, and the three guards combined for 56 points in a game San Antonio lost by 12.
Castle scored 24 points on 9-20 shooting and Harper added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, which is why the three-guard lineup still looks workable despite the result.
Wembanyama still collected 13 rebounds and six blocks on a night when his shot would not fall, and San Antonio's 45 team rebounds topped the 42 that Houston managed against Dallas.
The Spurs went 62-20 last season, beat Oklahoma City in seven games to win the West and then lost the NBA Finals to New York in five, so the opener looks more like a rough night than a warning sign.
Houston shot 53.4% from the field against Dallas and made 16 of 36 threes, yet still turned the ball over 16 times, compared with 14 for San Antonio, so the margin came from shot-making rather than ball security.
The numbers above make Houston look far stronger, but one game cannot separate a good offence from a good night, and the Spurs hold the one clear edge on the boards, so the early Western Conference standings tell us very little.
Injury Report
Houston Rockets
Steven Adams — calfBackup centre; calf problemGame-Time Decision
Fred VanVleet — kneeReturned in the opener after missing last season with a torn ACL; no restriction reported for this gameAvailable
San Antonio Spurs
Tobias Harris — left calf strainMissed preseason and the openerGame-Time Decision
Jayden Quaintance — kneeOut
Steven Adams carries a game-time decision tag with a calf problem, which leaves Sengun's backup role uncertain.
VanVleet is available for Houston after his return from a torn ACL in the opener, and the fixtures around this game are on the NBA schedule.
San Antonio are waiting on Tobias Harris, who missed preseason and the opener with a left calf strain, while Jayden Quaintance remains out with a knee problem.
Neither side has named a lineup, but both coaches should stick with their opening-night fives, which would mean Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell and Wembanyama against VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant, Smith and Sengun.
Key Matchups
Scorer against the shot-blocker (opening-night lines)
30Durant pts
10-16Durant FG
12Wembanyama pts
1-13Wembanyama FG
Wembanyama's six blocks and 13 rebounds show he affects games without scoring, while Durant needed only 16 shots to reach 30.
Point-guard control (opening-night lines)
14Fox pts
7Fox ast
6VanVleet pts
11VanVleet ast
VanVleet created for others in his return, while Fox scored and rebounded as well as passing, so the better organiser may not be the more productive player.
Durant needed only 16 shots to score 30 against Dallas, and the question is how much of that survives against Wembanyama, who blocked six shots on a night when little else went right.
In the backcourt, Fox was the most useful of San Antonio's three guards with seven rebounds and seven assists, and the Spurs will need that steadiness if VanVleet runs the tempo for Houston.
Player Props to Watch
ReboundsOver 11.5
6.3Pre-season (4 GP)
13Season opener
He collected 13 rebounds in the opener despite missing 12 of 13 shots, and a Houston side that rebounded well will still leave plenty of misses on the defensive glass.
Made threesUnder 2.5
Vassell shot 30.0% from three in preseason on five attempts a game, and the Spurs' guards take most of the creation load.
Season Series · 2025-26 regular season
Mar 8, 2026San Antonio 145-120 HoustonSan Antonio
Jan 28, 2026San Antonio 111-99 HoustonHouston
Jan 20, 2026Houston 111-106 San AntonioHouston
Nov 7, 2025San Antonio 121-110 HoustonSan Antonio
San Antonio won three of the four meetings last season, with Houston's only success a home win on January 20.
The Spurs answered by winning in Houston eight days later and finished the series with a 25-point victory on March 8.
Houston won three of four in 2024-25 and the all-time regular-season series still favours the Spurs 122-101, while Udoka played for San Antonio and spent seven years on Gregg Popovich's staff.
The Spurs won each of their three meetings with Houston last season by 11 points or more, and they have an extra day of rest while Houston wait on Steven Adams.
San Antonio made only 10 of 37 threes in the opener and are due to shoot better, while Houston scored freely and the last meeting reached a combined 265 points.
He took 13 rebounds in a game where nothing fell offensively, so a return to normal shooting should not cost him glass work.
His preseason output was 1.5 threes a game at 30.0%, well below the line.
A team margin and one wing's shot volume are driven by different factors, and both lean on the Spurs' guards controlling the game.
Score Prediction
San Antonio Spurs 121-111 Houston Rockets
Predicted margin 10 points · Predicted total 232
San Antonio are the pick because the Spurs have beaten Houston comfortably three times in their last four meetings, they have more rest, and a team that shot that badly in an opener rarely does so twice.
Houston's rout of Dallas deserves respect, but it was built on one quarter, and a Spurs side that rebounds and shoots normally should push this past the total, although tips are opinion and nobody should stake more than they can afford to lose.
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