The San Antonio Spurs continued their three-game homestand on Monday night and used two strong quarters to put away the Utah Jazz, earning the 119-97 win at the Frost Bank Center. The win is the fifth straight for San Antonio, who defeated the Jazz for the second time in nearly a week.
San Antonio set the tone from the opening tip, being aggressive by slicing into the paint at every chance and using their signature ball movement to find the open man for a shot. Defensively, the Spurs put together
their best quarter of the season so far, holding Utah to 16 points, the lowest they’ve allowed in the first quarter this season, and 27 percent shooting.
The second quarter saw Utah make a run, cutting the Spurs’ lead to 36-35. Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson was furious and called a timeout, pounding his fist into his hands in frustration as his team walked over to the bench. After that timeout, San Antonio responded with a 14-5 run to take a 50-40 lead and would eventually go into the locker room with some motivation to put the game away in the second half.
San Antonio opened the second half by outscoring Utah 21-18, but another timeout from Coach Johnson saw him not happy with his team’s transition defense as Keyonte George hit a three in transition. The Spurs responded by closing the quarter on a 23-11 run to take full control going into the final 12 minutes.
“Just not getting bored on what was working,” San Antonio guard Stephon Castle said after the game when asked about the second half surge. “I think we came back out in the 2nd half and brought that same kind of energy.”
The Spurs were led by a balanced attack as seven players were in double figures by the final horn. Dylan Harper led San Antonio with 17 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Castle rebounded from his poor outing with a migraine on Saturday to score 16 points to along with five rebounds and four assists.
Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox each chipped in 12, while Wemby pulled down 11 rebounds. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs’ second unit with 15 points and seven rebounds.
“We have so many weapons,” Castle said of the Spurs’ balanced attack after the game. “We have so many guys who can make a play out of nothing, and we’ll be fine either way.”
The injury-depleted Jazz were led by Lauri Markkanen’s 22 points as Utah lost its fifth straight.
With the Spurs’ homestand closing on Wednesday night with a visit from Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks, Keldon Johnson said the team is not satisfied with a five-game winning streak after climbing out of the 0-2 hole to start the season.
“We’ve yet to play our best brand of basketball,” he said after the game. “We’re getting better each and every game. If we felt like the best version of ourselves at this point of the season, we’d be in trouble. We’re improving and will continue to improve.”
