HOUSTON — Dwight Howard paired 32 points with 16 rebounds and delivered a dominating interior performance against the short-handed San Antonio Spurs in the Houston Rockets’ 98-81 win on Thursday night at Toyota Center.
With the Spurs (2-2) resting center-forward Tim Duncan and lacking injured center Tiago Splitter, Howard ruled the paint and overwhelmed forwards Aron Baynes and Jeff Ayres.
Howard made 12 of 18 shots from the floor, utilizing a combination of dunks and hook shots to keep the Rockets (6-0) unbeaten.
Down five regulars, San Antonio shot its way into an early hole by missing its first 11 attempts from the field. By intermission, the Spurs were 0 of 12 on 3-pointers and 11 of 44 overall, with backup point guard Cory Joseph (5 of 6) accounting for nearly half of the made field goals.
Joseph finished with a team-high 18 points and Baynes (12 points and 12 rebounds) and guard Danny Green (10 points) paced the San Antonio starters.
Houston guard James Harden chipped in 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. He did commit eight turnovers, but his defense sparked the Rockets, who scrambled all over the court to contest perimeter jumpers.
Despite the sluggish start, the Spurs trailed by only three points, 18-15, heading into the second quarter. But the Rockets seized control midway through the quarter, holding the Spurs scoreless for five minutes after rookie forward Kyle Anderson converted a three-point play that pulled San Antonio to 32-24 with 7:37 left before halftime.
Houston responded with a 13-5 run to close the half. Howard nailed two free throws and slammed home two alley-oop dunks around a driving layup from Harden.
That burst continued into the third quarter with Howard following another alley-oop dunk with a three-point play before forward Trevor Ariza and guard Isaiah Canaan added 3-pointers to extend the lead to 56-36 with 8:00 left in the quarter.
When Harden converted a driving layup with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter, the Rockets held their largest lead of the night at 80-49.
NOTES: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sat F/C Tim Duncan and G Manu Ginobili as healthy scratches. The Spurs also were without C Tiago Splitter (right calf), G Marco Belinelli (right groin) and G Patty Mills (right shoulder). … Splitter is tentatively scheduled to see a physician after reaggravating his calf while making his season debut Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Belinelli will be out 7-10 days. … The Rockets were without G Patrick Beverley (hamstring) and F Terrence Jones (leg contusion). Beverley started and played 30 minutes Tuesday night in Miami after missing the previous two games. … Rockets rookie F Kostas Papanikolaou is a candidate to play more minutes alongside Rockets C Dwight Howard after posting a career-high five assists Tuesday night against the Miami Heat, including four to Howard.