Rockets' Thompson, at 6-foot-7, stuffs Wemby's last-second shot to seal win

AUSTIN, Texas -- Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson couldn't quite explain what happened after sealing a 114-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs by swatting away a last-gasp attempt at the rim by Victor Wembanyama. In the aftermath of the game-saving play, Rockets forward Kevin Durant scurried over in excitement to deliver Thompson a message Friday as the sellout crowd at Moody Center groaned in disbelief. "I said, 'What the f--- is wrong with him, thinking he was just going to lay it up so easily?'" Durant recalled. "I don't know," Thompson shot back. With five seconds remaining and Houston clinging to a 112-110 lead, Spurs point guard De'Aaron Fox floated a pass over Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. to Wembanyama, just as the big man spun toward the basket outside the restricted area. Wembanyama soared for what ends with a dunk in most cases. But Wembanyama's eight-foot wingspan couldn't clear Thompson's seven-foot reach and pogo-stick leaping ability. "I just knew they were going to try to get probably me or one of the other smaller guys on him," Thompson said. "I jump pretty high, so I wouldn't try to keep ducking [in on] me." Thompson smacked Wembanyama's attempt into the waiting hands of Fred VanVleet, who iced the game with a pair of free throws. "Man, what an incredible block," Durant said. "It was just insane, man. As soon as your feet hit the ground, to be able to bounce back up so quick, that's rare in any human. To be 6-7, dunk the ball and block shots like a center is insane." Thompson finished with a team-worst minus-12 on the box score. But what transpired on the floor told a different story for the 23-year-old, who finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a pair of steals. "We did a really good job of switching and denying some catches, pushed [Wembanyama] off his spot, did his work early instead of getting ducked in like we did quite a few times," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "And from there, he uses athleticism and God-given ability there and did a hell of a job one-on-one with him in the post." Thompson worked Wembanyama on the offensive end, too. With 1:13 left in the third quarter, Thompson cut to the basket for a two-hand jam over the Frenchman off an assist by Durant. Wembanyama fouled Thompson on the play, and the Rockets guard nailed the and-1 free throw to give Houston a nine-point lead. "That's low-key getting dunked on, right?" Thompson said, smiling. Thompson and Durant scored 20 points apiece, but Rockets center Alperen Sengun dominated Wembanyama and the rest of the Spurs bigs to pour in a game-high 29 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. The performance marked his 35th career game with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists, tying Steve Francis for the second-most such games by a Rockets player before age 25. Sengun scored 18 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to help Houston get off to its first 2-0 start since 2017-18. "They kind of tried a couple of [things] and they were doubling," Sengun said. "So, I've just got to read the game. If they're not doubling, I'm going to work. If they're doubling, I'm trying to find my teammates. At the end of the game, they decided not to double and then I went to work." That's what Thompson did, too, to seal the victory. "With moments like that, you kind of don't even know what it is," he said. "You just know you're getting hyped. That's a game-winning block. We were playing hard. That's a great team we just beat. So, to celebrate in front of their bench, yeah, it was fun." ESPN Research contributed to this report.