Harrison Barnes scored 24 points and Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie had 22 each as the host San Antonio Spurs defeated the Houston Rockets 121-110 on Friday in an NBA Cup clash between the Lone Star State rivals.

The win gave the Spurs a 1-0 record in the West Group C pod of the league's postseason tournament while Houston dropped to 0-1. San Antonio and Houston are grouped with Portland, Denver and Golden State in the event.

San Antonio led by a point at halftime and by 11 midway through the third quarter before the Rockets closed to within four entering the fourth. The Spurs rebuilt the advantage to nine points on a Barnes 3-pointer with 6:37 to play but Houston responded with a 6-0 run that included a layup by Amen Thompson to cull its deficit to 103-100 with 4:48 left.

Cham

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