The San Antonio Spurs, who are becoming a strong team, will try to win their fourth straight game and improve their chances in the NBA Cup when they face the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in a West Group B matchup in Salt Lake City.
The Spurs have a 1-1 record in the group stage, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and beating the Oklahoma City Thunder. Utah is 0-2, with losses to the Phoenix Suns and the Lakers. Both teams will have one more game to play in the group stage after Tuesday’s game.
San Antonio will be on the road after playing eight of its last nine games at home.
The Spurs won six of those games, including a 104-94 victory over Golden State on Saturday. San Antonio came back from a 17-point deficit and outscored the Warriors by 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Victor Wembanyama returned after missing three games with a bruised knee and scored 25 points, along with nine assists, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Rookie Stephon Castle contributed 19 points, including six points during a key late run, while Harrison Barnes scored 22 points. San Antonio was without Devin Vassell (knee) and Keldon Johnson (hamstring).
“I think the biggest thing for us is just doing it by committee and celebrating each other’s success,” said Barnes, who is in his first season with San Antonio.
The Spurs held Golden State to just 13 points in the fourth quarter.
“It was excellent — 13 points in the fourth quarter versus a team that has been there many times and thrives in those moments,” said San Antonio interim coach Mitch Johnson. “I am very happy with the physicality, with the connectivity. It was our best quarter to date, in my opinion, defensively.”
San Antonio has won two of the three games against Utah this season, including a 126-118 home victory on Thursday. Utah had a strong win after that, beating the New York Knicks 121-106 at home on Saturday, with Lauri Markkanen scoring 34 points.
Collin Sexton added 25 points and made six 3-pointers for Utah in that win. John Collins had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Walker Kessler grabbed 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Keyonte George scored 11 points and had nine assists. Johnny Juzang scored 12 points to complete Utah’s double-digit scorers.
“It’s a really good team win for a lot of reasons,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy. “The first group really took pride and set the tone and the energy really well (Saturday). Always good to win in front of our home crowd, for sure.”
Utah shot 50.6 percent from the field, compared to 39 percent for the Knicks, and made 19 of 34 three-point attempts (55.9 percent). The Jazz also won the rebounding battle 52-40, ending a four-game losing streak.
“Offensively, you know, any night that you can have six guys in double figures is great,” Hardy said. “Our starters played very well. It’s fun to see multiple guys play well and not have the game be about one person.”
