HOUSTON — Tough, aggressive defense is what one would expect in any game involving the Spurs.

And there was plenty of it Friday night. Only this time their opponent did it better.

Unable to adjust to the Houston Rockets’ hard-nosed play, the Spurs dropped an 88-84 Christmas Day decision at the Toyota Center that snapped their season-best seven-game winning streak.

“They were very physical and very aggressive defensively,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Rockets. “I don’t think we adjusted to that very well. If that’s the way the game is going to be called, you have to roll with it. Whatever the (officiating) crew seems to be emphasizing or not emphasizing or whatever, that’s our responsibility to adjust, and I thought their pressure hurt us tonight in a lot of situations.”

In falling to 25-6, the Spurs recorded season lows for points and free-throws attempted (eight). The Rockets, meanwhile, improved to 16-15 by following coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s game plan, which he said before the game centered on physical, tenacious defense.

“We’ve got to hit people,” Bickerstaff said.

The Rockets reached their physical peak in the third quarter when guard Patrick Beverley nailed Spurs guard Tony Parker in the face while playing nose-to-nose defense.

“That’s what they always try to do with us,” Spurs center Tim Duncan said. “They always try to be physical. They take it over the top sometimes, but such is basketball. They got us on our heels.”

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili agreed.

“They denied and pressured the ball and we couldn’t get anything easy,” Ginobili said. “Our trademark ball movement was not there because they were jumping on passing lanes. When that happens, you’ve got to attack the rim more. We held it and tried to post the ball, holding it, instead of moving it from one side to another. We helped them out.”

Kawhi Leonard (20 points, seven rebounds, five steals, three blocks) and LaMarcus Aldridge (18 points, nine rebounds) didn’t disappoint in the nationally televised game, but the same couldn’t be said of some of the Spurs’ other starters.

The Spurs, who had won three straight against the Rockets, fell to 4-6 in Christmas Day games, including losses in their last three holiday contests. Two days before this one, Parker said he would rather be home with his family and his son than play on Christmas.

On Friday, he played like it, scoring a season-low two points on 1-of-7 shooting. Duncan finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but he had only three points and four rebounds after three quarters. Danny Green also suffered through a tough outing, missing 4 of 6 shots en route to scoring five points.

“I hate playing on Christmas, but that’s just me,” Duncan said. “I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. But it is what it is. We made too many mistakes down the stretch, too many turnovers. Personally, I think I made three down the last five or six minutes, so those mistakes bit us. And I thought that was the game.”

James Harden recovered from a poor start shooting-wise to finish with 20 points on 7 of 21, but he talked more about the team’s defensive effort afterward.

“We were consistent with our defensive effort every possession,” Harden said. “They’re a really good team that moves the ball extremely well. They’ve got a lot of guys who can make baskets, so we had to lock in and, for the most part, we did a really good job with that. We pressured passes and contested shots, and we did it consistently.”

An 8-2 run by Houston gave it a 78-71 lead without about five minutes to go. The Spurs fought back, but Harden energized the crowd with an off-balance, 3-pointer from the corner over Duncan that gave the Rockets an 84-75 lead.

Popovich tried intentionally fouling Dwight Howard, but it didn’t make a difference.

“Who knows? It’s the old argument,” Popovich said. “Harden didn’t have the ball and they didn’t hit their free throws but maybe it hurt momentum for us. Who really knows? I go back and forth on it, but I’d do it again.”

In the end, it boiled down to the Spurs failing to adjust to Houston’s fierce defense and them making too many mistakes and missed shots at the end.

“A couple of us struggled, but the bottom line was we were in the position to win the game if we make the right plays, and we didn’t make them,” Duncan said. “We move onto the next one.”

torsborn@express-news.net