The Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-110 on Friday night at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The win, in a Spurs home game that came down to the final second, moved Houston to 2-0.

For Houston, Amen Thompson filled the stat sheet with 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

But the last of those blocks came at the rim on Victor Wembanyama’s game-tying attempt in the dying seconds, and Kevin Durant and the NBA world were stunned by the clutch play.

Amen Thompson Rises to Deny Victor Wembanyama at the Rim

Thompson had 11 points by halftime, and Houston took a 61-59 lead into the break. The game remained a closely fought affair, with San Antonio mounting a fourth-quarter surge to tie the game before Alperen Şengün’s run helped put the Rockets back in front.

With 46 seconds left in the matchup, Dylan Harper drove for a dunk that pulled the Spurs within two.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson called a timeout with 5 seconds to go, but the game witnessed its highlight moment in the dying moments after play resumed.

Wembanyama’s game-tying layup attempt with less than a second remaining was emphatically blocked by Thompson with the crowd in utter disbelief. HoopCentral posted the clip of the moment.

Durant came away impressed as well. In comments shared by NBA Courtside, the 2-time Finals MVP walked through what Wembanyama tried to do on the play before turning to Thompson:

“Wemby caught the ball and just thought he’d be tall man and just try to rise over top but twin is just a freak athlete… What a game saving block.”

Legion Hoops kept its verdict short: “Amen Thompson. Unreal.”

One fan zeroed in on the size gap between the two players and remarked, “Don’t think y’all understand how insane it is that 7’4 Wemby got blocked by Amen Thompson who’s a foot shorter bro.”

“Say Amen! Wemby tried to finesse a little tying lay-in at the buzzer and AMEN REJECTED IT,” Skip Bayless posted.

Another NBA fan weighed in on the Spurs star’s standing: “Wemby BITW talks are over”

This comment came on a night when Wembanyama still led San Antonio with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks, though he went 9-for-21 from the field and 5-for-8 at the line.

Şengün led all scorers with 29 points on 10-for-20 shooting, adding 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Durant had 20 points on 5-for-10 shooting, a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

As a team, Houston went 28-31 at the line, compared with 18-25 for San Antonio.

But not every Rocket found his rhythm, as Marcus Smart scored 5 points on 1-for-6 shooting, missed all 4 of his 3-point attempts, and committed 3 turnovers in 21 minutes.

For the Spurs, Harper added 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting, while De’Aaron Fox posted 19 points and 9 assists but also had 5 turnovers.

After the game, Wembanyama admitted he would have gone for the dunk, but the loss now drops San Antonio to 0-2 following their 116-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Houston opened with a 128-110 home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, then picked up its first road win Friday.

Neither team has long to dwell on Friday, with both playing again on Saturday. Houston will visit the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, while the Spurs, still chasing their first win of the season, will face the Mavericks at American Airlines Center.