Spurs snap 6-game losing streak vs. Rockets with 110-106 nailbiter

Since drafting Tim Duncan first overall in 1997, the San Antonio Spurs have never had a losing record in the month of December. 

But the Spurs have been banged up and slumping. With six losses in their last seven games and a 6-9 record for the month, their run of 17 straight winning Decembers hung in the balance Sunday night when they hosted the 21-7 Houston Rockets, who happened to have beaten them six times in a row. 

Early in the game, it didn't seem like it was going to be the Spurs' night. 

The Rockets built a 10-point lead in the second half, thanks in large part to the play of swingman and recent trade import Corey Brewer. In just his third game in a Rockets uniform, Brewer knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers on his way to a season-high 25 points. 

The Spurs started chipping away at the lead in the fourth quarter, then took the lead themselves. They then stretched that lead all the way to 11 with a 15-0 run, buoyed by their breakout spark-plug in point guard Corey Joseph. 

Joseph has basically been this year's version of Patty Mills for the Spurs, though Mills actually returned in this game from a seven-month absence due to offseason shoulder surgery. He predictably struggled to find his stroke early, but shook off the rust to hit some key shots down the stretch, and had a huge defensive play late in the game when he forced James Harden into a turnover with the Rockets down three. 

In the end, the Spurs pulled out a 110-106 win, ending a two-game losing skid, and snapping that streak of six consecutive losses to the Rockets. They'll still have to win two very tough games - against the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans - to avoid their first losing December of the Duncan Era, but they've staved it off for now.