The San Antonio Spurs look to get their first win of the season, while the visiting Houston Rockets hope for a second-consecutive victory.

Catch the game tomorrow at 8:30 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Houston Rockets (1-1, 0-0 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

  • Fred VanVleet
  • Jalen Green
  • Dillon Brooks
  • Jabari Smith Jr.
  • Alperen Sengun

The Rockets dominated the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, 128-108, with balanced scoring. Seven reached double digits, ranging between 11 and 22 points. It was a tad better than the 110-105 loss they had against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.

Savvy big man Alperen Sengun (20.5 PPG, 16.5 RPG, 2.5 SPG) and athletic freak Jalen Green (25.0 PPG) remain as the two key guys on the team, providing an inside-out threat. 

The rest, meanwhile, provide support from everywhere. Like Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. poses a double-double just about every game, plus some good rim protection. Veteran point guard Fred VanVleet is off to an okay start at 15.0 points and 4.5 assists across two games, but we’ll see if he can get it going soon.

Houston is averaging 116.5 points per game in two outings thus far. The tenacious defense that was seen early last season was underwhelming in the opener but was paraded well in Saturday’s game. Tomorrow’s a good opportunity to reaffirm that it really is back.

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HOME: San Antonio Spurs (0-1, 0-0 HOME)

Projected starting five:

  • Chris Paul
  • Devin Vassell (out) / Julian Champagnie
  • Harrison Barnes
  • Jeremy Sochan
  • Victor Wembanyama

The Spurs had a terrible season opener vs. the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The energy looked flat, and they proceeded to lose, 120-109. Much of it was they also couldn’t guard the outside, giving up 19 treys in the process, including six to Klay Thompson alone.

It didn’t help that Victor Wembanyama shot just 5-of-18 and wasn’t that active anywhere. Chris Paul did have eight assists but he was only 1-of-6 for three points. The two also had game-worsts -21 and -20 for the night, respectively. Key forward and preseason top scorer Keldon Johnson was also just 3-of-9 for seven points.

The bright spots were third-year forward Jeremy Sochan (18 pts, 6/11 FGs) and veteran Harrison Barnes (17 pts, 7/10 FGs), so we’ll see if they can parlay it into something more or at least similar.

The Wemby-CP3 tandem should work sooner rather than later, but given how young most of the guys are, it may laso take several games before it gets going. In any case, tomorrow’s home opener sould be fun.

PICKS:

Spread: Spurs (-2)

Over/Under: Over (224)

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