Rose fortunately has a couple of other skills that have helped him earn an NBA paycheck for the past six seasons. He put them on display in the Spurs' 102-78 win over Houston, matching his career high with 14 rebounds and playing solid defense.

"I didn't think I had 14 rebounds, to tell you the truth," Rose said. "Had I known that, I would have told Tim (Duncan) to throw one off the backboard so I could go get it."

The Rockets gave Rose plenty of opportunities to pad his stats, missing 14 of their 19 shots in the fourth quarter and scoring just four points over the final 7:19. The Spurs added to the misery of Houston's season, which has been lost for some time now, winning for the 15th time in the teams' past 16 meetings.

Long accustomed to challenging the Rockets for the Midwest Division title, the Spurs instead used them as a tuneup Thursday for their new intrastate rival. The Spurs' second win in as many nights left them two games behind Dallas, which visits the Alamodome on Saturday.