A Timeout Wiped Out Victor Wembanyama's Long 3. Then Amen Thompson Blocked His Last Shot.

By The Arena Staff

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 23, 2026 — Victor Wembanyama made the shot that should have saved the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. It just didn't count.

His long, banked-in 3-pointer was waved off because Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had called timeout with 5 seconds left, before Wembanyama let it go, the AP reported. San Antonio got the ball back and went to Wembanyama again. This time Houston's Amen Thompson was waiting.

Thompson blocked Wembanyama's tying attempt at the rim with less than a second remaining, and the Houston Rockets beat the Spurs 114-110 at Moody Center, according to the AP. Fred VanVleet made two free throws for the final points.

## The Last 5 Seconds

Houston led 112-110 when play resumed. De'Aaron Fox floated a pass over Jabari Smith Jr. to Wembanyama, who turned toward the basket and went up, ESPN reported.

The 6-foot-7 Thompson got off the floor in time to meet the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama and knocked the ball into VanVleet's hands, according to ESPN and the AP.

"Rejected by Thompson! Rejected by Thompson! Rockets win!" Kevin Harlan said on the Prime Video call, as quoted by NBA.com.

Kevin Durant, who scored 20 points, ran over to Thompson right after the play. "Man, what an incredible block," Durant told ESPN. "As soon as your feet hit the ground, to be able to bounce back up so quick, that's rare in any human."

Thompson kept it simple. "That's a game-winning block," he said, according to ESPN. "That's a great team we just beat."

## How It Got That Close

The game had 14 lead changes and 11 ties, NBA.com reported. The final minutes went back and forth. A Fox-to-Wembanyama alley-oop cut Houston's lead to one, Durant answered with a 3-pointer with 1:34 left, and Dylan Harper's dunk pulled the Spurs back within two, according to NBA.com.

Alperen Sengun led Houston with 29 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, and had seven rebounds and seven assists, ESPN reported. Thompson finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Wembanyama had 25 points and 13 rebounds, the AP reported. It was a bounce-back night after he shot 1-for-13 in San Antonio's season opener, the worst shooting performance of his career, according to NBA.com.

## A Homecoming in Austin

The game was played on the University of Texas campus, where Durant averaged 25.8 points in his lone college season before going No. 2 in the 2007 NBA Draft, NBA.com noted. He finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

"To come back to the University of Texas and play a game here and see all these fans that supported me the last 20 years, it's amazing," Durant said, according to NBA.com.

## What's Next

Houston is 2-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season, ESPN reported. San Antonio, which reached the NBA Finals last season as the Western Conference champion, fell to 0-2, according to NBA.com.

Both teams play again Saturday night. The Rockets visit Atlanta and the Spurs visit Dallas.

> What We Know
> - Final: Rockets 114, Spurs 110, at Moody Center in Austin
> - The finish: Amen Thompson blocked Victor Wembanyama's tying attempt with less than a second left
> - The shot that didn't count: Wembanyama's banked-in long 3 on the previous possession was waved off because the Spurs had called timeout
> - Leaders: Alperen Sengun 29 points for Houston; Wembanyama 25 points and 13 rebounds for San Antonio
> - Records: Rockets 2-0, Spurs 0-2
> - Up next: Rockets at Hawks and Spurs at Mavericks, both Saturday night

Reported by AP News, ESPN and NBA.com.

More from The Arena: [Booed at Halftime, the 76ers Erased a 29-Point Hole and Beat the Cavaliers in LeBron James' Philly Debut](/stories/76ers-erase-29-point-deficit-beat-cavaliers) · [Brewers Take World Series Game 1 After Replay Wipes Out Their Celebration](/stories/brewers-survive-overturned-double-play-win-world-series-game-1)

<small>Photo: Pikraken, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (January 2026 file photo; cropped).</small>