Amen Blocked Wemby at the Rim. Houston Won the Possession That Mattered.

Victor Wembanyama is seven-foot-four. Amen Thompson is six-foot-seven. And with the game on the line, Amen met him at the rim and won. Houston beat San Antonio 114–110 on October 23, and that late block is going to be the highlight everybody shares. It should be. But don't let one ridiculous defensive play erase the offense that got the Rockets there.

Alperen Şengün finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He scored eight straight for Houston in the fourth, using his strength and touch to get to spots San Antonio couldn't consistently take away. When a game slows down, that kind of interior creation is worth a hell of a lot more than simply running up and down hoping somebody gets hot.

Amen had 20 points, ten rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Kevin Durant contributed 20 points, seven boards and six assists, including a crucial three with 1:34 remaining. Fred VanVleet scored 14 and later hit the free throws that closed the game. Houston had more than one player capable of handling the moment.

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Wembanyama posted 25 points and thirteen rebounds, while Dylan Harper added 20 and De'Aaron Fox had 19 points and nine assists. San Antonio was right there. It trailed by only two after Harper's driving dunk with 46 seconds left. This wasn't a mismatch disguised by a dramatic finish; the Spurs had real chances to steal it.

One strange moment deserves context: Wembanyama banked in a long three late, but it didn't count because San Antonio had called timeout before the shot. Then, on the decisive attempt at the rim, Thompson got the block with less than a second left. The sequence is a reminder that late-game execution is about decisions and timing, not just which player is taller.

Houston shot 28-for-31 at the free-throw line. San Antonio went 18-for-25. That's ten more makes in a four-point game. The Rockets also shot ten-for-25 from three, compared with the Spurs' twelve-for-37. San Antonio took more threes but wasn't getting the same efficiency or foul-line value.

Durant playing in Austin added a little history: he was a college star at Texas, and there were plenty of people there to cheer him even with San Antonio listed as the home team. But I don't think this was a KD nostalgia story. The most important work came from Şengün inside and Amen defending a player almost a foot taller.

My take is that the Rockets are interesting because their skill sets actually complement each other. Durant can hit a shot over a defender, Şengün can control a half-court possession and Thompson can erase something that looks like a guaranteed bucket. That's a much more useful identity than stacking names and praying chemistry shows up.

The Spurs are 0–2, but I wouldn't make that the whole story. Wembanyama, Harper and Fox created enough to compete with a good opponent. They need cleaner execution in the final minute and better discipline at the line. Houston earned the win because it made the last big play, not because San Antonio lacked talent.