Spurs vs. Rockets: Score and Twitter Reaction from Christmas Day 2015

The Houston Rockets have been steadily improving throughout December, and they took another step toward erasing their early-season woes by snapping the San Antonio Spurs' seven-game winning streak with an 88-84 Christmas Day victory at Toyota Center. 

Houston is now 9-4 in December after mustering just seven wins in 18 tries over the first five weeks of the regular season.

Despite trailing by five at halftime, the Rockets rebounded by holding the Spurs to 17 third-quarter points and 24 fourth-quarter points in what devolved into a slugfest following an up-and-down first quarter. 

Houston shot 43.2 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three, and James Harden exploded for two clutch treys with under five minutes remaining to help create some extra distance between the Southwest Division rivals.

B/R provided a glimpse at Harden's clutch shooting: 

Along with 20 points on 7-of-21 shooting, Harden added a game-high nine assists, one of which came in sly fashion down the stretch, per NBA TV on Twitter:

Terrence Jones notched 14 points and six rebounds as a spark off the bench, while Howard posted 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jason Terry was also remarkably effective with 12 points and three steals off the pine. 

As a team, the Spurs were strikingly ineffective from a scoring standpoint. They shot 40.9 percent from the field and an uncharacteristic 26.3 percent from three—numbers that overshadowed a superstar performance from Kawhi Leonard.

The swingman stuffed the stat sheet by compiling 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals, four assists and three blocks in a performance that served as a highlight reel of all his positive attributes, but San Antonio simply couldn't scrounge up enough offense to make a late run.

LaMarcus Aldridge (18 points, nine rebounds) and Tim Duncan (13 points, 11 rebounds) were both solid, but Tony Parker and Danny Green left plenty to be desired by scoring two and five points, respectively. 

According to B/R Insights, Friday night was the low point of Parker's season:

"

Tony Parker vs. @HoustonRockets: 2 pts, 1-of-7 FG-FGA (14.3%). The pts and FG% are season-lows for Parker. #NBAXmas pic.twitter.com/rqhvxWOhwP

— B/R Insights (@BR_Insights) December 26, 2015"

The Rockets looked like the more energized team throughout the first quarter, but they floundered in the second frame. Houston mustered 13 points over the second 12-minute stanza, and it wasn't aided by superlative play from its primary scoring option. 

Harden amassed more turnovers—three—than points—two—in the first half, per B/R Insights, which was partially due to Leonard's lockdown defense. Kawhi filled the stat sheet with four steals in the first half alone, which was more than the Rockets tallied as a team during that span.

NBA on ESPN broke down the difference between Harden's first- and second-half performances:

However, Houston came out firing in the third quarter and remedied some of the woes that plagued its offense throughout the second quarter. A 13-4 run shot the Rockets back in front midway through the third, and their defense consistently impressed late against the most efficient offense the NBA has had to offer in December.  

The Rockets have now won four straight on Christmas Day and are gaining some legitimate steam with the New Year approaching. Not only have they posted the fifth-best net rating in December, per NBA.com/Stats on Twitter, but they're starting to resemble the team that was one of the most feared in all of basketball last season. 

There's still plenty of work to do, but the Rockets are back over .500 with a budding confidence that can't be ignored. They won't have much time to enjoy the win, as a road trip to take on the New Orleans Pelicans awaits on Saturday. Meanwhile the Spurs will look to get back into the win column on Saturday in a home tilt against the Denver Nuggets. 

Post-Game Reaction

Friday proved to be a day full of statistical feats for the Rockets, per ESPN Stats & Info: 

Rockets radio play-by-play man Craig Ackerman noted the win also represented a defensive milestone for the victors: 

Once both sides retreated back to the post-game locker room, Boris Diaw and Donatas Motiejunas tweeted their responses to the evening's action: 

Howard, meanwhile, capped things off by praising Terry following a superb outing off the bench. 

"He was 'The Jet' tonight," Howard said, per ClutchFans on Twitter. "Sometimes he's 'The Propeller', but tonight he was 'The Jet.'"