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Spurs-Rockets Preview

Feb 25, 2010 - 10:09 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

San Antonio (32-23) at Houston (28-28), 8:30 p.m. EDT

The San Antonio Spurs returned home after a long road trip and came up with a big win. Their challenge now is trying to build some momentum as they head back to the road.

The Spurs look to avoid losing their third straight away from the AT&T Center when they face the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

San Antonio (32-23) defeated Oklahoma City 95-87 on Wednesday in a brief stop home after going 4-4 on their annual rodeo trip.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points and Tim Duncan finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists against the Thunder. Ginobili also delivered a critical block on Kevin Durant in the final minutes that prevented what might have been a fast-break dunk.

San Antonio, 3 1/2 games behind first-place Dallas in the Southwest Division and trying to hold onto seventh place in the Western Conference, had lost its previous two. Now it is looking to win back-to-back games for only the third time since Jan. 15.

"We've had some (wins) like this before where it looked like we were going to start being who we're supposed to be, and then it didn't happen," said Ginobili, who averaged 23.7 points in the last three games. "We got to stay humble and keep working hard."

The Spurs, 12-13 away from home, defeated the Rockets 92-84 on Nov. 27 for their first road win in five tries this season.

San Antonio's defensive effort against the Thunder was the kind that had been lacking on the road recently. The Spurs limited Oklahoma City to 39.8 percent shooting, but allowed opponents to average 98.1 points and shoot 45.8 percent on the trip.

San Antonio might have an easier time defending against the Rockets (28-28), who have reached 100 points in two of their last eight games. Houston has dropped six of eight.

The Rockets are coming off a 110-92 home loss to Orlando on Wednesday, scoring 40 points in the first half and getting outrebounded 46-37 overall.

"We have to figure out how we're going to win," coach Rick Adelman said. "We just lost whatever confidence we really had. We just kind of lost everything, I think with everything that's happened we just don't seem to play with the same energy and enthusiasm that we had before. We have to find a way to get that back."

Aaron Brooks scored 25 points for Houston and Kevin Martin added 19, his best total in three games since joining the Rockets in a trade-deadline deal.

Martin made his first start while fellow newcomer Jared Jeffries scored nine points in 23 minutes. Jordan Hill and Hilton Armstrong also saw their first playing time with their new team.

The Rockets have lost four in a row at home, allowing 110.3 points per game in that span. The last time they dropped five straight in Houston was March 16-26, 2006.

Duncan reached the 20,000-point mark in the most recent matchup with Houston, a 116-109 Rockets road victory Jan. 22. He finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, but shot 5 of 13 from the field.

The Spurs and Rockets have alternated wins and losses in their last six meetings. San Antonio, though, took the last two meetings at the Toyota Center.