Amen Thompson’s last defensive rotation turned a 7-foot-5 release into a Houston celebration. Thompson climbed to erase Victor Wembanyama at the rim in the closing seconds Friday, preserving the Rockets’ 114-110 win over the Spurs at Austin’s Moody Center and sending Houston to a 2-0 start.
Thompson’s block closes a wild Austin finish
The all-Texas meeting was played on the University of Texas campus, with 14 lead changes and 11 deadlocks before Houston finally held the line. The Rockets built an 11-point advantage early in the second quarter, but San Antonio repeatedly worked its way back in front, never stretching its own lead beyond one point.
The final sequence packed the building with highlights. De’Aaron Fox found Wembanyama for an alley-oop that cut Houston’s lead to one, but Kevin Durant answered with a 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining to push the margin back to four. Dylan Harper followed with a poster dunk, before Thompson’s late rejection of Wembanyama finished the job.
- Houston improved to 2-0.
- The defending Western Conference champion Spurs dropped to 0-2.
- Thompson, a 2025 All-Defensive First Team selection, overcame Wembanyama’s 10-inch height edge on the decisive play.
- Durant called Thompson “a freak athlete” and described the rejection as a game-saving play.
Fred VanVleet said very few players on the planet could make that stop against Wembanyama. Thompson’s instantaneous second jump and full extension met the shot at its high point, an early entry in the league’s block-of-the-year conversation only four nights into the 2026-27 schedule.
Durant viewed the matchup as an important early measuring stick against a San Antonio team that reached the Finals last season.
“It’s early, but they’re a championship-level group,” Durant said. “You want tests like this early in the season. We won’t overreact to one game, but there is plenty on film that can help us improve. Hopefully this is something we build from.”
Sengun owns the fourth-quarter workload
Alperen Sengun gave Houston its most reliable late-game option. The Rockets center finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes, delivering 14 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Houston kept putting the ball in Sengun’s hands as San Antonio made its pushes. He went 4-for-6 from the field in the final period and added two assists, capitalizing when the Spurs concentrated their attention on Durant and declined to bring regular extra help against him.
“They kept making runs, and we kept going back to Alpi,” VanVleet said. “They were focused on Kevin and weren’t leaving me much, so Alpi and Amen had to punish the single coverage. We kept feeding the big guy, and he brought us home.”
Wembanyama recovered sharply from his difficult opener, when he made just one of 13 shots and missed all four 3-point attempts. He posted 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks Friday, shooting 9-for-21 overall and 2-for-6 from deep. Still, his blocked final attempt became the image attached to San Antonio’s second loss.
Durant’s Austin return includes another winning night
For Durant, the game carried the extra layer of a return to the school where he became a national name. During his lone Texas season, he averaged 25.8 points and took the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament’s second round before going No. 2 in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Durant played his college games at the Frank Erwin Center, the arena later replaced by Moody Center. He also wore No. 35 in burnt orange and early in his NBA career; he now wears No. 7 with Houston.
- Durant recorded 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
- His late 3-pointer came shortly after Wembanyama’s alley-oop had made it a one-point game.
- It was Durant’s second NBA game in Austin.
- In 2024, while with Phoenix, he had 22 points, five rebounds and three 3-pointers in a 120-109 loss to San Antonio.
That makes Durant 1-1 in NBA appearances at his old campus.
“This is a blessing,” Durant said. “I dreamed about this as a kid. To come back to Texas, play here and see fans who have supported me for 20 years is incredible.”
VanVleet’s command returns before his shot does
VanVleet has played only two games since returning from the torn right ACL that cost him all of last season, but Houston’s point guard has immediately restored order to the offense. He has 16 assists and no turnovers through two outings.
His scoring rhythm remains a work in progress: VanVleet is averaging 10 points on 33.3% shooting, with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game, as he continues working his legs back into game condition. But Durant said the point guard’s range and direction are already helping every piece of the roster.
“He can pull defenders out as far as the hashmark, and he runs the game,” Durant said. “That helps the entire team, not only me.”
VanVleet joins Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton and Kyrie Irving among prominent players back this opening week after injuries sidelined them for the previous season. He spent his own lost year functioning almost like an assistant coach, a role that made clear where he preferred to be.
“Your voice can only do so much,” VanVleet said. “I felt like a coach last year, and I learned I don’t want to coach. I was getting migraines and going home more frustrated and hurt from not playing than I ever was from playing.”
