Following an easy win over the lowly Kings, the Spurs faced a tougher foe in Utah Wednesday night, narrowly escaping with a 117-111 victory to extend their winning streak to three.
With both Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. out with injuries, the Jazz’ frontcourt was severely undermanned. The offensive burden was thus placed on Keytone George, who came out swinging. The shifty guard scored 10 quick points, helping the home team build a double-digit lead early in the game. San Antonio’s defense
left much to be desired, often slow on closeouts and switches, giving Utah good looks at the basket.
On the other end, the Jazz prevented Wemby from getting easy buckets by packing the paint. Still, it was only a matter of time before the big fella got loose, as the Spurs generated easy dunks for Wemby on the fast break and through pick-and-roll actions. San Antonio also ran successful inverted sets that used Wemby as the ball handler, taking advantage of his vision and the slashing ability of their guards.
Even so, the Jazz answered every time the Spurs went on a run. San Antonio was only able to either tie the game or build a small two-possession lead, and the perimeter defense was not good enough to contain Utah’s explosive backcourt. Even after scoring on three consecutive possessions in crunch time, the Spurs allowed the Jazz to tie the game. With four seconds remaining in regulation, San Antonio had a chance at a buzzer-beater, but some slight confusion resulted in a desperate heave that gave me PTSD from the ending of game 2 of the finals.
Overtime wasn’t much prettier from either side. Both teams had several disjointed possessions that somehow still ended up in the basket, and the Spurs pulled away by slowing down and getting Wemby some easy finishes at the rim. San Antonio built a multi-possession lead but still gave Utah life by conceding a wide-open three with less than a minute left, and it was a relief to finally hear the buzzer go off at the end.
Game notes
- This was the Spurs’ third straight win, but the game still left me wanting more. San Antonio was disorganized for most of the night on both ends of the court, with the one silver lining being some of the offensive actions that they used involving Wemby as the hub. Other than that, there were a lot of rushed shots and possessions, and the point-of-attack defense also gave Utah too many great looks. Jeje reminded me that this was the second night of a back-to-back, so the team deserves some leeway, but there’s no denying that the team’s miles from their best at the moment.
- A big reason why the game was such a slog was due to Harper’s struggles. The young guard played his worst game of the season, shooting just 4-17 and finishing with 13 points. He did have 8 assists, but it seemed like he was forcing things on offense, and lost his assignment multiple times on defense too. Perhaps he was a bit too jazzed to go up against college teammate Ace Bailey, as Harper tried to iso and make a tough contested fadeaway against him once in the fourth.
- On the bright side, Wemby seems to be rounding into form. The Alien finished with 36 points on 14-25 shooting and 4-10 from deep, while also grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. He was undoubtedly the difference Wednesday night.
- In a game that went to OT, Mitch Johnson elected to only play nine guys, including a short 5-minute stint from Carter Bryant. It was the first time this season that the Spurs played fewer than 10 guys, and it’s surprising considering that the match went long.
Play of the game
I loved how the Spurs used Wemby as a playmaking hub. It opens up so many different looks that can be exploited, and this is just one example of that.
Next game: vs Timberwolves on Saturday
The Spurs will look to make it four in a row on Halloween against a Wolves team without Ant.
