Jazz End Spurs Eight-Game Streak As Wembanyama Impresses In Return

San Antonio Spurs saw their eight-game winning run end as Utah Jazz punished every slip, winning 127-114. Victor Wembanyama returned to the starting line-up for the first time since mid-November and produced strong numbers, yet San Antonio still suffered their heaviest home loss of the season.

Utah Jazz relied on Lauri Markkanen’s 29 points and Keyonte George’s 28 to control long stretches. The victory followed another success against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, meaning Utah have now beaten two of the NBA’s top three teams in consecutive games during this regular-season spell.

Wembanyama was San Antonio Spurs’ standout player, finishing with 32 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three assists in just under 28 minutes. It marked the first

time Mitch Johnson’s team have lost in the 2025-26 campaign to an opponent with a losing record, underlining how costly their errors became against Utah Jazz.

The French centre had missed 12 games after suffering a calf strain against the Golden State Warriors last month. The meeting with Utah Jazz saw Wembanyama record his 38th NBA game with at least five blocks, the highest such total by any player since his rookie season began in 2023-24, while still operating under a minutes limit.

Coach Mitch Johnson accepted San Antonio Spurs did not meet their usual standards, especially in basic schemes that are normally routine. Johnson stated, "They obviously get credit for their production and performance, but when you say evaluate ourselves, [I'm] pretty disappointed in quite a few things. The game-plan execution in terms of just not being connected on very simple things we do every game that weren't necessarily pertinent to the Utah Jazz, but the Utah Jazz took advantage and crushed us when we made mistakes. "

Final from tonight@FrostBank | #sponsored pic.twitter.com/Y1fU0SlYcuSan Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 28, 2025

Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy focused on his team’s composure in testing moments against San Antonio Spurs. Hardy said, "That's a really impressive back-to-back win against a really good team on the road, San Antonio made their run. The building went crazy. Our team is showing a lot of poise for how many young players we have on the court. I'm so proud of our group. "

Johnson outlined how San Antonio Spurs must manage Wembanyama’s return while staying competitive against sides like Utah Jazz. Johnson explained, "It's a balancing act of continuing to grow his fitness, but also trying to keep him fresh. [It's] also being mindful of the totality of the minutes. It was the first night he started. So, [I was] probably a little conservative that we didn't want to overrun him early. There's a few things at play, but we want him to be fresh because all our guys are better when they're playing fast. Then, [it's] just continuing to push that obviously, because we want his minutes to continue to go up. "

San Antonio Spurs now face the task of correcting their execution after this defeat to Utah Jazz, while still building Wembanyama’s workload carefully. Utah leave with confidence from back-to-back road wins, whereas Johnson’s group must respond to their first home setback of this size during the current campaign.