The Rockets defeated the Spurs 111-106 after pulling off their biggest comeback of the season from down 16 points at one point in the game. The Spurs’ offense collapsed in the second half, and a major part of that was Kevin Durant and the Rockets’ defense on Victor Wembanyama.
Kevin Durant has been guarding Wembanyama all night… Wemby is 5/21 tonight. Clamps.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 21, 2026
He had a woeful night in terms of efficiency as he finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists while shooting 5-21 from the field (23.8%) and not making a single three-point shot during the game.
After the game, Kevin Durant spoke to the media and addressed where the Rockets capitalized in the second half and how they held Wembanyama to just two points in the second half.
“He’s still working on his jump shot. You can tell he’s trying to figure his jump shot out. We made him shoot tough fadeaways over us all night. He hit a couple early on, but for the most part, we made him shoot over us,” Durant explained.
“He’s the most dangerous when he gets layups, dunks, or plays around the rim; that’s more of his game than floating around the perimeter shooting jump shots. When it goes in, it looks amazing. But when you get a hand up on him, we forced some bad misses, and we were able to get out and run.”
“But his length in the paint is a problem. When he gets hot, it’s tough to stop him. So I guess we did a solid job of putting him in a little bit of foul trouble, too, but getting our hands up on some of his jump shots,” said Durant in conclusion.
Durant stuffed the box score tonight and finished the game with 18 points, four rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one block. He shot 7-12 from the floor (58.3%) and went 2-4 from beyond the arc (50.0%).
But the most significant part of his contributions tonight was his defense on Victor Wembanyama. He guarded the French wonderkid for the majority of the time he was on the floor, but he got considerable help from Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson to give him a challenge in finding his rhythm tonight.
The Rockets’ veteran superstar later also admitted that this win signifies a lot for a team that has been struggling against top teams so far this season.
“It says a lot, we’ve been struggling. We don’t want to beat around the bush, we’ve been struggling,” said Durant. “But to come out here and beat a team that’s expected to be there at the end of the season, a championship-contending team, especially when we’ve been struggling a little bit.”
“So obviously it was one of those wins. You don’t want to get too excited for the regular season, but we don’t want to undercut what we’re doing in the regular season just because we’re thinking about what comes two or three months down the line.”
He also further added about how he felt about veteran players targeting him when he was a young player, and addressed what he felt about the comparison of doing that with Wembanyama now.
“You take pride in it just like those guys took pride in guarding me back when I was a young player. They didn’t want to be embarrassed by young players, and Wemby can definitely embarrass you even if you play great defense.”
“Just trying to play hard man, I don’t want to make it about me versus young dudes every time I guard somebody or play against a young player. I don’t want it to always be about my historical mark in the league against a new up-and-coming guy; the storyline is cute, but it’s just about winning the basketball game.”
Durant downplayed his matchup with Wembanyama and claimed he would be guarding the same way if he faced Harrison Barnes or Luke Kornet on the defensive end of the floor. But at the end of the day, he was proud that in a team effort, the Rockets managed to come away with a victory.
This victory over the Spurs improves the Rockets’ record to 26-15, as this game marks a three-game win streak. They came away with four wins in a five-game home stint and will now hit the road to face the 76ers in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Spurs fell to 30-14 for the season after this loss, snapping their three-game win streak. They will now face the Jazz in Utah on Thursday as well.
