Thompson blocks Wembanyama, and the timeout eats the three

The last play was a 6-foot-7 defender meeting a 7-foot-4 shot in the lane. Amen Thompson blocked Victor Wembanyama's layup with less than a second left, the one that would have tied it. Fred VanVleet made two free throws after that. Houston won 114-110. The game was in Austin, not San Antonio, and Kevin Durant, the former Texas star, had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the homecoming. The Rockets are 2-0. The Spurs are 0-2.

Wembanyama had 25 points and 13 rebounds and thought he had a three on the possession before the block. He banked it in. It did not count. Coach Mitch Johnson had called timeout with five seconds left, before the ball left Wembanyama's hand. The sequence is the whole night in two possessions: a bucket that did not exist, and a layup that did not go in. Alperen Sengun scored 29 for Houston, eight of them in a row in the fourth. Thompson finished with 20 and 10 to go with the block. De'Aaron Fox had nine assists for San Antonio.

You can argue the timeout. You cannot argue the block. Thompson was smaller, later, and on time.