Game Summary

The Utah Jazz brought out their inner Ebenezer Scrooge (the pre-haunting one, anyway) and only allowed the San Antonio Spurs 89 points in a hard-fought game in which both teams played the night before. They took the lead for good at the 5:38 mark in the 1st quarter. Unlike last night in Oklahoma City, the Jazz came out ready to fight, taking a 24-17 lead in the first quarter and a 50-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Spurs did mount a comeback, though, pulling to within two points a few minutes into the third, and again within two near the end of the quarter. The Jazz matched the Spurs runs with scoring of their own, though, and gained the hard-fought victory.

Good Rodney Hood® showed up, scoring 29 points on 12-24 shooting, though only 3-10 from beyond the arc. The Jazz desperately, desperately need him to show up every game, especially while their best scorer, Donovan Mitchell, is unavailable. He came in clutch in the final quarter, scoring 11.

Decent Ricky Rubio® made an appearance too, putting up a line of 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. His assist/turnover ratio, though, still sucks. It was nearly 1:1. (He finished with 6 TOs)

Also, stop trying to make “Spanish Samurai” happen. It’s not going to happen.

This game wasn’t pretty, but any win in this December schedule is incredible. I get that both teams were on the back end of a back-to-back, but the outgunned Utah Jazz had no business winning this one.

Game Notes

Former Michigan State shooting guard Bryn Forbes was the leading scorer for the Spurs, putting up a line of 12/3/1. Not pretty.

Kawhi Leonard looked okay, swatting a Ricky Rubio 3-point attempt in to the third row. However, he’s still rusty and not “back” yet. He put up a paltry line of 10-5-2.

Joe Johnson looked healthier tonight. He found his spots and hit some silky-sweet shots as he normally does.

Next up, the homestanding Jazz will be facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, who drubbed them just last night. Hopefully the same team that showed up today is the same one that comes to play tomorrow.

GO JAZZ GO!