Preview: Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA

The Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs meet at Moody Center in Austin at 2:30am BST on Saturday, with Kevin Durant back on his old Texas campus and two Southwest Division rivals arriving off very different season openers.

Houston beat Dallas 128-110 on Wednesday, while San Antonio lost 116-104 to Oklahoma City on Tuesday after Victor Wembanyama shot one for 13 from the field.

It is the first of three games the Spurs play at the Austin arena this season as part of the I-35 Series, and San Antonio are the listed home team.

Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs form and outlook

Form Guide

Houston Rockets

1-0 · one game played

Last 5 (2025-26 play-offs vs. Lakers and 2026-27 opener)

L W W L W

128.0PPG

110.0Opp PPG

130.6Off. rating

111.1Def. rating

San Antonio Spurs

0-1 · one game played

Last 5 (2025-26 NBA Finals and 2026-27 opener)

L W L L L

104.0PPG

116.0Opp PPG

102.0Off. rating

113.7Def. rating

Houston's opener was largely decided by a single quarter, with the Rockets winning the second period 38-12 to lead by 32 at half time.

Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points each, Alperen Sengun added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet handed out 11 assists after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.

Houston won 52 games last season but only 22 of 41 away from Toyota Center, and Ime Udoka's side then went out in the first round against the Lakers.

San Antonio went the other way, trailing by 26 in the first half before opening the third quarter on a 23-9 run.

Mitch Johnson started De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper together alongside Devin Vassell and Wembanyama, and the three guards combined for 56 points in a game San Antonio lost by 12.

Castle scored 24 points on 9-20 shooting and Harper added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, which is why the three-guard lineup still looks workable despite the result.

Wembanyama still collected 13 rebounds and six blocks on a night when his shot would not fall, and San Antonio's 45 team rebounds topped the 42 that Houston managed against Dallas.

The Spurs went 62-20 last season, beat Oklahoma City in seven games to win the West and then lost the NBA Finals to New York in five, so the opener looks more like a rough night than a warning sign.

Houston shot 53.4% from the field against Dallas and made 16 of 36 threes, yet still turned the ball over 16 times, compared with 14 for San Antonio, so the margin came from shot-making rather than ball security.

The numbers above make Houston look far stronger, but one game cannot separate a good offence from a good night, and the Spurs hold the one clear edge on the boards, so the early Western Conference standings tell us very little.

Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs team news and rotations

Steven Adams carries a game-time decision tag with a calf problem, which leaves Sengun's backup role uncertain.

VanVleet is available for Houston after his return from a torn ACL in the opener, and the fixtures around this game are on the NBA schedule.

San Antonio are waiting on Tobias Harris, who missed preseason and the opener with a left calf strain, while Jayden Quaintance remains out with a knee problem.

In the absence of any major new injury concerns, both teams should stick with their opening-night fives, which would mean Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell and Wembanyama against VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant, Smith and Sengun.

The matchups that could decide Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs

Key Matchups

Scorer against the shot-blocker (opening-night lines)

Kevin Durant

HOU

VS

Victor Wembanyama

SAS

30Durant pts

10-16Durant FG

12Wembanyama pts

1-13Wembanyama FG

Wembanyama's six blocks and 13 rebounds show he affects games without scoring, while Durant needed only 16 shots to reach 30.

Point-guard control (opening-night lines)

De'Aaron Fox

SAS

VS

Fred VanVleet

HOU

14Fox pts

7Fox ast

6VanVleet pts

11VanVleet ast

VanVleet created for others in his return, while Fox scored and rebounded as well as passing, so the better organiser may not be the more productive player.

Durant needed only 16 shots to score 30 against Dallas, and the question is how much of that survives against Wembanyama, who blocked six shots on a night when little else went right.

In the backcourt, Fox was the most useful of San Antonio's three guards with seven rebounds and seven assists, and the Spurs will need that steadiness if VanVleet runs the tempo for Houston.

Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs player props

Player Props to Watch

Victor WembanyamaSAS

ReboundsOver 11.5

6.3Pre-season (4 GP)

13Season opener

He collected 13 rebounds in the opener despite missing 12 of 13 shots, and a Houston side that rebounded well will still leave plenty of misses on the defensive glass.

Devin VassellSAS

Made threesUnder 2.5

1.5Pre-season (4 GP)

Vassell shot 30.0% from three in preseason on five attempts a game, and the Spurs' guards take most of the creation load.

Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs head-to-head history

San Antonio won three of the four meetings last season, with Houston's only success a home win on January 20.

The Spurs answered by winning in Houston eight days later and finished the series with a 25-point victory on March 8.

Houston won three of four in 2024-25 and the all-time regular-season series still favours the Spurs 122-101, while Udoka played for San Antonio and spent seven years on Gregg Popovich's staff.

Our Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs tips and prediction

San Antonio are the pick because the Spurs have beaten Houston comfortably three times in their last four meetings, they have more rest, and a team that shot that badly in an opener rarely does so twice.

Houston's rout of Dallas deserves respect, but it was built on one quarter, and a Spurs side that rebounds and shoots well normally are backed to emerge victorious.