NBA News Wire
Jazz 100, Spurs 96
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SALT LAKE CITY — Center Derrick Favors scored 21 points and forward Gordon Hayward added 20 to help the Utah Jazz snap a nine-game losing streak with a 100-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
Enes Kanter added 12 points and 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, while Alec Burks chipped in 13 for Utah (6-16), which lost all four games against the Spurs last season.
Forward Tim Duncan had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead San Antonio. Forward Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and guard Danny Green chipped in 13 for the Spurs (15-6), who played without starting point guard Tony Parker.
Utah veered away from its usual first-half script. The Jazz have shown a penchant for second quarter struggles this season. This wasn’t the case with San Antonio. Utah played with energy on both ends of the court and it paid off.
The Spurs built up a four-point lead near the end of the first quarter, going up 20-16 on guard Marco Belinelli’s jumper with 1:21 left in the quarter. Utah did not fade away like in past games. The Jazz regained a 31-26 lead early in the second quarter after center Rudy Gobert scored baskets on back-to-back possessions to fuel an 8-0 run.
Leonard scored on a runner to cap a 7-0 run that helped San Antonio go ahead 40-38 just before halftime. The two teams traded baskets and Hayward scored on a layup with 34.6 seconds left to put Utah up 44-43 and give the Jazz a rare halftime lead.
The Jazz built on their advantage early in the third quarter. Utah led by as many as eight after Favors completed a 3-point play to give the Jazz a 67-59 lead with 4:01 left in the quarter.
San Antonio rallied over the remainder of the quarter. The Spurs tied the game at 69-69 on a driving layup from Green.
Utah regained momentum after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich got ejected with a pair of technical fouls with 10.4 seconds left. Popovich got tossed after arguing for a foul call. Hayward and guard Rodney Hood each hit a pair of free throws and the Jazz went up 78-71.
San Antonio closed to within a point early in the fourth quarter when Duncan made a mini hook shot to cut Utah’s lead to 81-80. Kanter and point guard Trey Burke scored back-to-back baskets to help the Jazz halt the comeback. Then Utah scored on five straight possessions — culminating in a Hayward jumper — to take a 97-87 lead with 1:50 remaining.
The Jazz outrebounded the Spurs 43-37, although San Antonio held a 62-50 advantage in points in the paint.
NOTES: San Antonio PG Tony Parker did not play because of a strained left hamstring. Parker averaged 20.0 points and 7.3 assists in four games against Utah last season. … Jazz coach Quin Snyder coached the Austin Spurs — the NBA Development League affiliate for San Antonio — from 2007-10 and earned D-League Coach of the Year honors in 2009. … The Spurs are 10-0 when scoring more than 100 points this season. … Through Monday, Utah ranked 13th in the NBA in field-goal percentage (.458). However, the Jazz shot better than 50 percent in only three games this season. … San Antonio’s Danny Green led all guards in blocked shots with 1.35 blocks per game entering play Tuesday. He also was averaging 1.25 steals, making him one of two guards — along with Houston’s James Harden — producing at least one steal and one block per game.
