Rockets end Spurs’ 7-game streak with 88-84 win

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) drives by Houston Rockets forward Clint Capela (15) for a layup in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, in Houston. Houston won 88-84. AP

HOUSTON, Texas—The Houston Rockets had their best defensive performance of the season in a victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

The key is keeping it up.

James Harden had 20 points and the Rockets slowed down the soaring Spurs with an 88-84 victory. The improved Houston defense held San Antonio to a season low in points and snapped the Spurs’ season-best seven-game winning streak.

This, Harden said, is how they should play defense all the time.

“We’re more than capable,” he said. “So we have to find ourselves. We’ve got to find that energy, that consistent defensive togetherness every single night.”

Houston used an 8-2 run to take a 78-71 lead with about 5 minutes left. Tim Duncan made a hook shot after that, but Harden hit a 3-pointer. A layup by Duncan came next before Harden brought the crowd to its feet with an off-balance 3-pointer from the corner that made it 84-75.

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich thought those two 3-pointers were the key to the game.

“One of them we weren’t up the way we should have been on a switch and he got a free one,” Popovich said. “The next one, he was deep and (Duncan) was all over him and he made a great shot. Those two 3s really changed it.”

The Spurs resorted to the Hack-A-Howard tactic soon after that, intentionally fouling Dwight Howard on two straight possessions. He missed all four free throws, and a basket by LaMarcus Aldridge got the Spurs to 86-81.

Kawhi Leonard made a 3-pointer after two free throws by Houston to allow San Antonio to cut the lead to four, but he missed a shot a few seconds later and Houston held on for the victory.

Leonard had 20 points to lead San Antonio. The Spurs struggled on long-range shooting, making just 5 of 19 3-pointers.

It was the first time the Rockets have hosted a game on Christmas since they moved to Houston. The last time the franchise hosted a Christmas game was in 1967 when the team was in San Diego.

The Rockets led by one after three and scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter, powered by five points from Jason Terry, to make it 70-60 with about 10 minutes remaining.

San Antonio got its first points of the quarter soon after that on a 3-pointer by David West to start a 9-0 run that cut it to 70-69. Leonard highlighted that run with a running two-handed dunk.

A layup by Aldridge pushed San Antonio’s lead to seven points early in the third quarter before Houston used a 13-4 run to take a 51-49 lead with about seven minutes left in the quarter. Pat Beverley got that spurt going with a 3-pointer and Harden made the next six points in that span.

The Spurs had turnovers on four straight possessions near the end of Houston’s run.

A jump shot by Boris Diaw got San Antonio to 59-58 with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. After that both teams struggled to score and missed their next seven shots combined.

It was Diaw who finally ended the drought when he made a layup with less than a minute remaining. Ty Lawson made Houston’s first field goal in almost 4 minutes after that to leave the Rockets up 61-60 entering the fourth quarter.

San Antonio scored the last seven points of the second quarter to take a 43-38 lead at halftime.