While a defunct space station drew closer to its imminent, fiery descent through the atmosphere this weekend, the high-flying Houston Rockets, winners of 11 straight, also fell back down to Earth. San Antonio held Houston to season-lows in field-goal percentage (33.8%), three-pointers made (seven, on 31 attempts), and assists (12), limiting the league’s best offense to just 83 points, also its worst output of 2017-18.
Some aspects of the Rockets’ dismal performance can be considered outliers — and Chris Paul’s absence (he sat out another game with a sore left leg) must be noted — but there’s also reason to think the Spurs’ own brand of basketball gravity makes them a foil against the number-one team in the league.