3 Questions: What Can Spurs Expect From Rockets on Friday Night?

AUSTIN, Texas — Dylan Harper believes the San Antonio Spurs know where they went wrong in their season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Now comes the harder part: Proving they've learned from it.

"I feel like that's what we're best at," Harper said. "We understood what happened (on Tuesday vs. Oklahoma City). We understood why things went the other way. Now, we talked about it, game (planned) obviously, but now we have to execute it."

The Spurs will get their first opportunity Friday evening against the Houston Rockets at Moody Center in Austin, where they'll look to avoid an 0-2 start against a Western Conference opponent that made significant moves during the offseason.

Houston enters the matchup coming off a 128-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, led by 30 points apiece from Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. But the Rockets' additions extend beyond Durant, presenting a different set of challenges for San Antonio.

Both teams will meet at the Moody Center as the Spurs host their first of three home games in downtown Austin — a game they're called the "Road to I-35."

Ahead of the matchup, Spurs On SI spoke with Varun Shankar, the Houston Rockets beat reporter for the Houston Chronicle to preview the matchup. Here's what he had to say:

Q: This team went an entire season without Fred VanVleet. With him back in the fold, how much of an impact do you see him having on this group as he works to find a rhythm again?

SHANKAR: It's still early, but you can see how VanVleet calms down the Rockets, making sure they get into good actions. He's also better at making entry passes to Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün in the post. The threat of VanVleet's pull-up 3-pointer also opens up better opportunities for Şengün in the pick and roll and just opens up the Rockets offense — it's one more guy you can't leave off the ball.

Q: Victor Wembanyama struggled mightily a few days ago against the Thunder. What do you believe is the most effective way to slow him down, and which pieces of the Rockets defense do you think can step up to that challenge?

SHANKAR: I'm not sure there's one way to limit Wembanyama. You've got to throw a bunch of different looks at him: Guard with a wing, then a big, then double-team, etc. Swarm him with bodies and make sure to tag him early and hard when he's rolling to the rim.

When the Rockets are on offense, I'd like to see them go at Wembanyama at the rim — he's going to get quite a few blocks but you still need to function on offense, and having him commit for a block could open up offensive rebounding chances.

Q: Where do you feel the Rockets improved most over the offseason? Where did they take their biggest step back?

SHANKAR: The Rockets added a bunch of much-needed shooting and ball handling to their roster. I'm not sure there's a spot where they took a step back — this team didn't lose any major contributors — but some of their better players (Durant, VanVleet, Steven Adams) are older and are at some risk of decline/injury.