Utah Jazz hold off slumping Spurs for comfortable win
The Utah Jazz closed out their four-game home stand with an emphatic 20-point win, claiming the season series 2-1 over the San Antonio Spurs.
After a rumor-filled trade season taxed the Utah Jazz mentally — when all was said and done, Ricky Rubio criticized the team’s front office for their attempted moves while Joe Ingles lamented the constant noise — the team was in dire need of some good vibes.
They got some on Saturday with an emphatic 125-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
This was a must-win game for the Jazz in many aspects. Trade chatter aside, after being blown out recently by two playoff teams, the Spurs were the testing material to see if the Jazz could still bring it against high-quality opposition, and sure enough they did.
This game was also of great importance to the Jazz as it could potentially give the upper hand come playoff time as the tie-breaker swings in their favor. After a rough start, the Jazz took the lead from the Spurs early in the second quarter and never looked in any danger of being caught.
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Rudy Gobert stamped his imprint on this game in dominating fashion, recording a 21 point and 13 rebound double-double to go along with a pair of blocks and posted a positive-15 in the plus/minus column. Perhaps even more notably, the Stifle Tower held All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge to 15 points on 5-of-16 from the field and minus-11 in his 32 minutes of play.
Aldridge had been on a tear coming into last night’s game, averaging nearly 24 points and nine rebounds since January 1. Dare I say this looked like yet another revenge game on Gobert’s part, as he was recently snubbed from All-Star selection with the voting going in favor of his counterpart.
Meanwhile, Rubio put together a solid overall floor game, posting 16 points, six assists and six rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting. Rubio got through his 27 minutes of play without committing a single turnover which his encouraging given that he’s been throwing the ball all over the gym in recent games.
Donovan Mitchell filled the stat sheet yet again for a 23 point, five-rebound and five-assist night with three steals. As the game wore on, Donovan seemed to lose his touch from the perimeter and went just 2-of-9 from 3-point territory, but continually able to make big plays down the stretch to keep the Spurs at bay.
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Ingles chipped in with a terrific 3-point shooting night, making on 3-of-5 attempts. Derrick Favors was solid with a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds). Royce O’Neale was tremendous once again, providing a huge boost off the bench with 17 points and five rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point land.
Overall, a solid and much-needed win for the Jazz as they continue to scale the Western Conference standings; now in sixth place and half-a-game behind the Houston Rockets for fifth. The Jazz have one game left before the All-Star break and will head to Oakland to take on the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Statistics courtesy of NBA.com.