The San Antonio Spurs will look to proceed their sizzling streak and transfer nearer to the highest spot within the Western Convention once they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday evening.
San Antonio brings a league-leading eight-game successful streak into its first of three conferences with the Jazz this season.
The Spurs head house after a 117-102 street win over the league-leading Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on Christmas Day. It was the third time in 13 days that San Antonio pinned a loss on Oklahoma Metropolis, whereas the Thunder is 26-2 in opposition to the remainder of the league. The Spurs’ victories in that span got here at a impartial web site (in Las Vegas on Dec. 13), in San Antonio (on Tuesday) and in Oklahoma Metropolis.
De’Aaron Fox scored 29 factors to guide San Antonio on Thursday because the Spurs prolonged their longest successful streak since 2018-19. Nevertheless, he’s listed as questionable for Saturday attributable to left adductor tightness.
Victor Wembanyama, who got here off the Spurs’ bench for the sixth consecutive sport after lacking 12 contests with a calf damage, racked up 19 factors and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes on Christmas. Stephon Fort additionally had 19 factors, Harrison Barnes hit for 15 factors and Dylan Harper scored 12.
“We realized that while you play a staff a number of instances in brief stretches, there is a familiarity, clearly, and it breeds, and while you play a staff (Thunder) of this caliber, the main points are that rather more magnified due to the familiarity, and we did an exceptional job as the sport progressed,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson mentioned.
San Antonio shot 53.6% from the sector within the win, its second consecutive sport above 50% — each contests vs. the Thunder, who lead the league in opponents’ field-goal share (43.4).
“This was like a playoff collection, and we realized so much on the tactical aspect, and we undoubtedly bought some intelligence,” Wembanyama mentioned. “All of us are pleased to come back into work. We all know we will have enjoyable, we all know we will go on the market and produce aggressive basketball.”
The Jazz journey to San Antonio for the second sport of a home-road back-to-back set after edging the Jap Convention-leading Detroit Pistons 131-129 on Friday. Keyonte George canned a brief jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining for the successful factors after Utah squandered a 15-point, third-quarter lead.
George scored 31 factors to guide the Jazz whereas Lauri Markkanen had 30 and Jusuf Nurkic added 16 factors and 11 rebounds. Brice Sensabaugh and Kevin Love contributed 20 and 14 factors, respectively, off the bench as Utah snapped a four-game shedding streak.
“On the finish of the day, it is nearly us taking part in the basketball that we wanna play,” George mentioned postgame. “That is what we did tonight. It is a staff win for positive. It is simpler to hold momentum while you win, particularly going into a troublesome back-to-back. It is a large take a look at for us.”
George scored no less than 31 factors for the fourth time in his previous seven video games. He’s averaging 30.3 factors per sport over that stretch, throughout which Utah has gained thrice.
The Jazz had been additionally bolstered on Friday by the return of Markkanen, who missed 4 of the staff’s earlier seven video games with a nagging groin damage that has saved him out of back-to-back video games. It stays to be seen if Markkanen will play on Saturday.
–Area Degree Media
