SAN ANTONIO — Forward LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead five San Antonio players who scored in double figures as the Spurs roared past the Houston Rockets 130-99 on Wednesday night to remain undefeated at home.
The Spurs showed no hangover from a 30-point road loss to Golden State on Monday and picked up where they left off in the AT&T Center by dominating Houston from the opening tip.
San Antonio cemented the outcome by outscoring the Rockets by 23 points in the middle two quarters, relegating the fourth quarter mostly to a contest between the two teams’ bench players.
The Spurs produced their season high for points. Forward Kawhi Leonard and guard Danny Green scored 18 points apiece, guard Tony Parker added 15 points and seven assists and reserve center Boban Marjanovic added 13 points and 10 rebounds, all in the fourth quarter.
San Antonio (39-7) improved to 25-0 at home this season, the best start by a Western Conference team since the Portland Trail Blazers won their initial 26 home games in 1977-78.
The victory also allowed the Spurs to extend their regular-season home victory streak to 34 games, dating to an overtime loss to Cleveland last March. They also tied the best start in franchise history after 46 games.
Houston (25-23), which had its three-game win streak snapped, was led by guard James Harden’s 20 points. Center Dwight Howard added 13 points and eight rebounds, reserve forwards Josh Smith and Terrence Jones scored 11 points each and reserve guard Jason Terry had 10.
The Rockets shot 52 free throws (making 35) to the Spurs’ 21 (with 18 makes).
The Spurs, using a smaller lineup with guard Kyle Anderson in the starting lineup in place of injured forward Tim Duncan, blitzed the Rockets early by hitting five of their first six shots from the field and building a 16-8 lead three minutes into the game.
But the Rockets were hot as well, beginning 8 of 8 from the floor and bouncing back to take a 21-20 lead with 6:01 left in the quarter, setting the table for the shootout to come.
The pace slowed a bit through the rest of the quarter and San Antonio led 35-29 after scoring its most points in the first quarter this season.
Green hit 5 of 7 3-point attempts and had 15 points in the first half as the Spurs pushed their lead to 69-49 at halftime while scoring their most first-half points this season. By the midway point in the game, four San Antonio players (Green, Aldridge, Parker and Leonard) and two Houston players (Harden and Howard) already had scored in double figures.
The Rockets needed a huge turnaround in the third quarter, but the Spurs dominated the 12 minutes as well, boosting its lead to 30 points at 98-68 with 2:17 left. Aldridge did the bulk of the damage for the Spurs by scoring 11 points in the quarter, which ended with San Antonio up 102-73.
NOTES: After not playing in San Antonio’s two games in October, Spurs rookie G Jonathon Simmons has increased his scoring average during each month of the season since then. Simmons averaged 4.2 points in five games in November, 5.7 points in 15 games in December and 7.5 points in 11 games this month. … Spurs F David West, in his 13th professional season and first in San Antonio, is shooting a career-high 56.9 percent from the field. He has shot 100 percent from the floor in in 18 career games and eight of those have come this season. … San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 14 in Toronto. Coaches whose teams have the best records in each conference after games played two weeks before the All-Star Game serve as head coaches. But no head coach is allowed to participate in two consecutive All-Star Games. … The NBA changed a stat from Houston’s game at New Orleans on Monday, ruling a field goal attempt in the second quarter by F Trevor Ariza to be a 3-point try. Ariza is now recognized for going 8 of 12 from 3-point range and the Rockets were 19 of 40. … Houston G Jason Terry was three steals shy of 1,500 for his career. He would become the 13th player in NBA history to record at least 18,000 points, 5,000 assists and 1,500 steals.