HOUSTON (AP) — Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 33 points and the San Antonio Spurs held on for a 123-120 win over the Houston Rockets Monday night to inch closer to the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
It was the fourth straight victory for the Spurs, who moved within one-half game of the Los Angeles Lakers for the 10th spot in the West.
Keldon Johnson had 21 points and Jakob Poeltl added 17 points with 13 rebounds as the Spurs dominated inside, outscoring Houston 72-30 in the paint. San Antonio had a season-high 82 points in the paint in a win over Houston on Jan. 25.
Rookie Jalen Green had 30 points and Kevin Porter Jr. added 26 for the Rockets, whose two-game winning streak was snapped.
A 3-pointer by Kenyon Martin Jr. got the Rockets within three points with 21.5 seconds to go. Murray's free throw gave San Antonio a 121-117 edge.
Josh Christopher hit a 3 for the Rockets to make it 121-120 with 9.6 seconds to go. This time Murray made both free throws to push the lead to three.
The Rockets had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Martin's 3-pointer rolled in and out of the basket.
San Antonio led by seven points with just over a minute remaining on two free throws by Murray, who had 11 assists and seven rebounds on his career scoring night.
The Spurs led by 12 to start the fourth quarter and were up by the same amount when Houston used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 107-100 with about seven minutes to go.
TIP-INS
Spurs: Lonnie Walker IV missed a fourth consecutive game with lower back tightness. ... Josh Richardson had 15 points off the bench. ... San Antonio was 7 for 29 on 3-pointers.
Rockets: Eric Gordon sat out with groin soreness. ... Dennis Schroder was out with a sore left shoulder. ... Christian Wood missed the game with tightness in his left hamstring. ... Christopher had 20 points off the bench.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host Memphis on Wednesday night.
Rockets: Host Sacramento on Wednesday night, the first of consecutive home games against the Kings.
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