OffRtg: 116.2 (10) DefRtg: 111.1 (3) NetRtg: +5.1 (6) Pace: 100.4 (17)
The Spurs have alternated wins and losses for their last seven games, a stretch that includes one of each in Houston. They came back from 16 points down to beat the Rockets on Wednesday and are sending their coaching staff to L.A. for All-Star Weekend.
Three takeaways
1. The Spurs held the Rockets to just 23 points on their final 39 possessions (0.59 per) as they came back from 16 points down on Wednesday. They’ve trailed only 17 of their 49 games by double digits and are now 6-11 in those games, with five of the wins having come against Houston (twice), Denver, New York and Oklahoma City.
2. The Spurs still rank third in defensive rebounding percentage, but they grabbed just 61.7 percent of available defensive boards over their last three games of January, with second chance points being much more than the overall difference in their recent losses to the Pelicans (outscored 27-9 on second chances) and Hornets (18-4). They began February by holding the Magic to one of their worst offensive rebounding games of the season.
3. Devin Vassell re-entered the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon and, interestingly, he replaced Harrison Barnes instead of Julian Champagnie. It was the first time in more than 10 years that the 33-year-old Barnes (one of three Spurs that have played in every game) came off the bench in a regular season game, but he was on the floor (instead of Champagnie) down the stretch and committed a damaging foul on a Miles Bridges 3-point attempt with a little more than a minute left.
Coming up: The last time the Thunder were in San Antonio, the Spurs had a rest advantage and won by 20. They’ll have a rest advantage again for the fifth (and final) regular season meeting on Wednesday.