DeMar DeRozan is on a roll, and a highly efficient one at that.
The Spurs’ leading scorer and distributor had 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in leading them to a 111-106 victory over the Rockets on Saturday night in Houston.
It was DeRozan’s fourth game of 30 or more points this season and second in a row after also scoring 30 in a win over Minnesota on Wednesday.
DeRozan entered Saturday’s game averaging 20.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 88.1 percent from the foul line.
His performance against the Rockets included 9-of-16 shooting from the field and an 11-of-12 effort from the foul line. During the past two games, he’s hit 19 of 35 shots from the field (54.2 percent) and 21 of 23 free throws (91.3 percent).
“He’s having a wonderful year,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s been a great leader. He’s really been detailed in his approach to games, and he’s been our go-to guy game after game after game.”
After leading by as many as 13 points late in the third quarter, the Spurs trailed for the first time in the game after John Wall hit a jumper with 3:28 to give the Rockets a 100-98 lead. But DeRozan came up big down the stretch, scoring seven points in the final 2:42, including a three-point play with 63 seconds left, that gave the Spurs a 107-102 lead and began with a 5-foot pump-fake jumper.
The Spurs overcame Wall’s 27 points and Eric Gordon’s 26 in improving to 13-10. Houston, playing without big man Christian Wood (ankle) fell to 11-11.
Here are three takeaways from a win that handed the season series between the Interstate-10 rivals to the Spurs, two games to one:
Mills got around Saturday night
When he wasn’t defying gravity for a buzzer-beating layin on a feed from Dejounte Murray at the end of the first half, Patty Mills was setting up Devin Vassell in the third quarter for a thundering throwdown dunk with a nifty drop-off pass.
Derrick White, for one, thought Mills’ first highlight reel play could have been even more spectacular.
“I thought Dejounte should have thrown it higher so Patty could have dunked it,” White joked. “That was a big bucket. Good awareness by both guys. But a little higher, I think Patty dunks it.”
Poeltl, Eubanks filling in nicely for Aldridge
With LaMarcus Aldridge missing his second game in a row with a sore hip, the Spurs got a strong tag-team effort from Jakob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks as they filled in for the seven-time All-Star big man.
Poeltl grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and improbably sank two free throws to tie the score at 100 with 3:01 left. The 7-foot-1 Austrian entered the game shooting just 25.8 percent from the foul line.
Eubanks finished with a season-high 12 points and had three blocks.
White continues to improve
Filling in for Lonnie Walker IV (stomach illness) in the starting lineup, White finished with 14 points, five assists and two blocks in a season-high 29 minutes. It was just his fourth game back after missing 14 with a fractured toe.
“I’m getting there,” he said. “I think we had moments where I felt good and then moments where I felt a step behind. I know it’s a process, but overall I’m feeling good and I love playing with the guys, which makes it easy to come back and play.”
torsborn@express-news.net
Twitter: @tom_orsborn
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The triple take: Spurs 111, Rockets 106 - San Antonio Express-News
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