In the city he called his foundation, Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, a former Texas Longhorn, had a simple answer for his expectations of the Austin crowd’s response to him in a road game against the San Antonio Spurs.
“Cheers,” Durant said. “What else would they do?”
Durant was right.
With five seconds remaining and the Spurs down two, San Antonio passed the ball down to forward Victor Wembanyama, attempting to force overtime through their best player. Rockets guard Amen Thompson had other ideas, blocking the 7-foot-4-inch forward’s shot with the end of his finger tips to seal the game, 114-110.
For three and a half years, San Antonio has adopted the Moody Center into their season as part of their Interstate 35 series. Houston, however, gained custody for the night.
Spurs guard Dylan Harper thought that the last Wembanyama shot attempt was a guaranteed extra five minutes of basketball.
“Definitely. I mean, Amen made a great play,” Harper said. “That’s a freakish athletic play. I mean, that’s one out of a million times that I think anyone’s gonna do that. But you know, definitely thought it was right when he caught it, it was gonna be (an) automatic two points, but that’s the game of basketball.”
Austin is in the midst of a mecha-weekend in sports, with Formula One and Texas football hosting Ole Miss Saturday night. However, The Texas Showdown took center stage Friday night.
Yesterday night’s matchup marks the ninth Spurs’ game at the Moody Center, but the first time they have faced a fellow Texas team.
This showdown was less about who drew first, but about who had more bullets in their chamber. Houston had three players, including Durant and Thompson, score 20-plus and never lost momentum long enough for the Spurs to take control.
A sea of black and silver watched as the splotches of red across the Moody Center spread like an infection. “MVP” chants for Wembanyama in the second quarter hushed with each Rockets score.
Wembanyama finished with a solid 25 points and 13 rebounds, but that won’t be what’s remembered by fans who attended in Austin tonight.
What they will remember is a great basketball game and finish between two great teams. Both the Rockets and Spurs have earned the No. 2 seed in the Western conference over the last two seasons and have had some memorable rivalry games.
At the end of the day, for Durant, great recognizes great.
“They’re reigning Western Conference champions for a reason. You know, they’re a deep team,” Durant said. “They got one of the most unique players ever to touch the floor at this (forward) position, and then they got plenty more guys on their team too that can wreak havoc.”
However, that talent wasn’t enough to stop Houston from claiming the Texas crown. H-Town will walk the streets of the University of Texas’ campus victorious against a state and divisional rival.
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson still embraces the energy these Austin games and the fan outreach it creates for his team.
“I understand if there’s a few Kevin Durant jerseys and fans in here tonight,” Johnson said. “But no, when we play here in Austin, it feels like a home game for us.”
