Ginobili’s 26 lead Spurs over Jazz
The Utah Jazz extended their losing streak to six games Wednesday night after falling to the San Antonio Spurs, 112-105.
From Tim Duncan’s win of the tip-off to Tony Parker’s final free-throws with four seconds left, the Spurs kept control, and the lead, of the game.
Despite 39 points from point-guard Deron Williams, Utah only held the lead for a minute and 20 seconds in the first quarter.
With seven minutes to go in the first quarter, forward Andrei Kirilenko stole the ball and ran it down the court for the first dunk of the game, taking the Jazz ahead, 12-11.
The Jazz came home Wednesday after a five-game road trip that ended with a 120-91 loss to the L.A. Lakers, where they were down by as many as 38 points. Home games generally tend to have more positive results, but it’s a lot to ask to come home to the face the Spurs, the team leading the league with a record of 39-7.
“At least I thought our guys played much harder than what we had been,” Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said. “They put themselves in position to have a possibility to win.”
However, that wasn’t enough.
“There’s no moral victories in my mind,” he said.
In the second quarter, things fell apart for awhile. The Jazz lost a lot of their drive and it seemed they didn’t believe they could pull it off. There were turnovers, fouls and missed shots, all leading to a rough six minutes of game time.
San Antonio went on a 17-0 run, taking the score to 46-29, before Utah got back in the game.
Play continued back and forth pretty evenly between the teams for the last six minutes of the half, ending with the Spurs on top at halftime, 58-49.
The third quarter was a key stretch of time for Williams. At the end of the first half, he only had 10 of his eventual 39 points, but he took off and exploded for 22 points in the third quarter, making nine of 12 shots from the field.
Williams left the first half with a mildly injured wrist. That hyperextension did not hinder his playing, and led him to his season-high scoring performance.
Small forward Jeremy Evans came off the bench to play the last two minutes of the third. In those few minutes, he shot 100 percent, making two dunks and a free throw. He nearly kept that consistency with another dunk, and only missed one shot in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz have had 12 comeback victories this season, overcoming deficits of more than 15 points seven times, but just couldn’t make it happen this time.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Spurs led 88-78, but Utah maintained their strength, slowly closing the gap between the two. With 21 seconds left, the Jazz were down five and had control of the ball. However, whenever Utah made a mistake, San Antonio fought back with a vengeance, making an even better shot than the one Utah had missed.
“They execute their stuff,” small forward C.J. Miles said. “That’s why they have seven losses on the season. It’s just more us talking and knowing where everybody needs to be. Everyone has to help. It’s the biggest thing we have to work on.”
“You have to have a great finish and we had some great plays to hang in there,” Sloan said. “But we let them get what they wanted on their end of the floor. We couldn’t stop them.”
Guard Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 26 points, followed closely by fellow guard Tony Parker at 23.
No one could catch Williams’ in scoring, but center Al Jefferson shot 67 percent from the field for a total of 22 points. Williams also led the team in assists, with nine during the game.
The Jazz continue their home series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
–megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu