Amen Thompson scores 25 points in the Rockets' victory over the Spurs
Feb 27, 2025, 8:47 am
Rockets beat the Spurs, 118-106. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Amen Thompson had 25 points and eight rebounds, Jalen Green added 21 points and seven rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-106 on Wednesday night.
Green scored 16 points in the first half to help Houston take a 64-46 lead. Thompson was ejected Tuesday night against Milwaukee for pulling down Giannis Antetokounmpo by the head and neck.
Dillon Brooks had 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range for Houston. The Rockets have won three of four since the All-Star break.
Keldon Johnson scored 22 points, and Stephon Castle added 22 points and seven rebounds for San Antonio. The Spurs have lost four straight.
De’Aaron Fox had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting for Spurs. Jeremy Sochan scored seven points but did not play in the second half for precautionary reasons after getting hit in the head.
Takeaways
Spurs: San Antonio got most of its production out of its bench, with the backups scoring 79 points and the starters 27 on 11-of-35 shooting.
Rockets: Houston has outrebounded its opponents by at least 13 in each of its three wins since the All-Star break. The Rockets had a 60-41 edge over the Spurs.
Key moment
The Rockets took a 23-7 lead on a dunk by Alperen Sengun midway through the first quarter. The advantage never dipped below double-figures the rest of the way.
Key stat
Houston shot 11 of 38 on 3-pointers. San Antonio was 7 of 39.
Up next
Both teams are back in action Saturday night. The Spurs are at Memphis, and the Rockets host Sacramento.
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Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo has “no hard feelings” toward Amen Thompson after the Houston forward was ejected for pulling him down from behind by his head and neck Tuesday night.
The Bucks were down by two with about 4½ minutes left when Thompson committed the foul as Antetokounmpo went up for a shot in the lane. The play was reviewed and determined to by a flagrant foul 2 and Thompson was ejected.
Houston went on to a 100-97 victory that snapped Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak.
“At the end of the day like you don’t wanna have a league that’s soft,” Antetokounmpo said when asked about the play. “I love guys that play hard. I love guys that they’re great competitors.”
“I’m one of those guys,” he continued. “Sometimes your competitive nature gets in the way (of) making the best decision, the best judgment at the time. And I feel like he wanted to make it a hard foul, but he grabbed my neck. But there’s no hard feelings.”
Thompson didn’t speak to reporters after the game.
Antetokounmpo believes that plays like this one or simply part of the game.
“I understand like when you’re a competitor, you’re gonna make mistakes like that,” he said. “I love it. I love playing this way. I don’t have no hard feelings against him.”
Both Houston coach Ime Udoka and Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers agreed that Thompson should have been ejected for the foul.
Crew chief Tony Brothers explained the decision to eject Thompson to a pool reporter after the game.
“Because the contact to the head was both unnecessary and excessive and by rule that’s a flagrant foul penalty two,” he said.
It’s the second ejection this season for Thompson, who was also tossed in a December game against the Heat after throwing Miami guard Tyler Herro to the floor. The incident triggered an altercation between the teams which led to the ejections of six players and staff members.
Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft, was suspended two games for his actions in that skirmish.