The Spurs didn’t play to the standard they set recently against the Jazz and learned the hard way that no team should be taken lightly in the NBA. The Utah Jazz, who defeated the East-leading Pistons on Friday, took care of the second-best team in the West on Saturday, thanks to fantastic outside shooting and superior energy. Victor Wembanyama returned to the starting lineup and finished with 32 points, but his contributions weren’t enough to make up for the absence of De’Aaron Fox, who was out with an injury.
Some complacency was expected from the Spurs after coming home after most of a month on the road and defeating the best team in the league three times. The signs that the Silver and Black were not playing with high intensity were there early in the first half, as they settled for jumpers instead of attacking the worst defense in the league. A timeout from Mitch Johnson temporarily fixed things. The team started to touch the paint more, either getting buckets at the rim or finding open shooters. The result was a 40-point quarter that gave San Antonio an eight-point lead.
While Johnson deserves praise for snapping his players out of their earlier stupor, he also deserves the blame for what turned out to be a disastrous second frame. He went deep into his bench, giving minutes to Carter Bryant, Lindy Waters III, and Jeremy Sochan, guys who had been out of the rotation recently. The players did their best but any sense of cohesion went out the window. The Jazz, who are a good offensive team, got going, and by the time the starters were back in, Utah was confident and in control of the game, while the Spurs went back to settling on offense. The visitors won the frame 38-20 and had a 10-point lead at the break.
If San Antonio was expecting the Jazz to just fade, they were sorely mistaken. They are a team with a bad record but well-coached and with weapons on offense. While the Spurs went back to playing hero ball a little too much, the visitors just executed and grew their lead. Eventually the Silver and Black started to look poised for a comeback after a good stretch by Wembanyama, but when Castle had to check out with what seemed like a calf injury after a dunk, it was hard to remain optimistic. Fortunately, the reigning RoY was healthy, and Harper, Champagnie and Wembanyama did enough to keep the Spurs within striking distance heading into the fourth.
The big run finally came and San Antonio tied the game. There was a dunk that was absurd even for Wembanyama’s standards that galvanized the crowd. All the ingredients were there for the Spurs to do what they have done before: play with their food but get the win in the end. The Jazz had other plans, as they continued to hit threes and clog the paint. The Silver and Black got close but simply couldn’t out-talent their opponent this time. The winning streak stops at eight, and the team will have to figure out how to play every game with the same energy.
Observations
- The Jazz have beaten some good teams this season. The list includes the Pistons, Celtics, Rockets and now Spurs. The Spurs hadn’t lost to bad teams, but they had taken opponents that were bad on paper lightly. A loss against an inferior team was bound to happen. Hopefully, they’ll learn from this.
- Julian Champagnie had shockingly similar numbers as a starter vs. coming off the bench coming into this game. The only significant discrepancy was in turnovers, as he tends to cough the ball up more as a sub. Luke Kornet has curiously done better on offense as a sub than as a starter. The trend continued for Champagnie, who was a disaster as a scorer but didn’t turn it over, but not for Luke, who only scored seven points and didn’t have any assists.
- Wembanyama has a tendency to give some of his assignments, who are questionable shooters, an almost excessive amount of room to shoot threes. It makes perfect sense, since it’s statistically a low percentage shot, and it allows Wemby to stay close to the paint. But when they go in, as one did for Jusuf Nurkic in the first quarter, they sting as a viewer in the moment. Fortunately, Wemby sticks to his process instead of overreacting to a single play.
- Bryant, Sochan, and Waters looked a little lost out there. It’s understandable for Mitch Johnson to give players who are out of the rotation some run while saving the legs of his main contributors, but it would probably make more sense to do so in lineups in which their roles are more clearly defined. Bryant, the only one who got a second stint, looked a lot better while playing alongside mostly starters.
- Lauri Markkanen would look great in Silver and Black. Alas, he’s probably going to be too expensive to acquire because of nights like this one. The Finnisher dropped 29 points on 16 shots.
- The Jazz came into the game ranked 19th in three-point shooting percentage. On Saturday, they connected on 17 of threes. The Spurs’ shoddy defense helped them, but their shooters were just on fire. San Antonio, meanwhile, only shot 23 percent from outside. It’s almost impossible to win when the three-point discrepancy is that big.
- Keldon Johnson continues to be one of the most efficient scorers in the league, finishing with 27 on 14 shots. Only a handful of guys who shoot threes boast a better effective field goal percentage. KJ’s fantastic year has been amazing to watch.
The Spurs will face the confounding Cavaliers on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
