Jazz Finds Rhythm Behind Talen Horton-Tucker, Beat Spurs At Home
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SAN ANTONIO — Dressed in fiesta turquoise, the San Antonio Spurs took to their true home court for the last time of the season to take on the visiting Utah Jazz.
It was Fan Appreciation Night, and the Spurs faced a tall order, looking for their 20th win of the season without two of their best players in rookie Jeremy Sochan and forward Keldon Johnson.
They knew they would have to rely on others from their young core in order to accomplish the task, and though they did — as five Spurs tallied double-digit point totals — the Jazz proved to be too much for the young team, using an explosive fourth quarter to put the game on ice and secure a 128-117 victory.
Jazz guard Talen Horton-Tucker showed out on all fronts, scoring a career-high 41 points while tallying five assists and four rebounds in his team's winning effort.
Guard-duo Tre Jones and Malaki Branham got things started quickly for San Antonio, recording 11 points in the first half of the first quarter. Jones recorded two steals and made his presence felt on defense right away, but when he was not on a fast break attempt, Utah's Talen Horton-Tucker was busy finding the rim.
The Iowa State product — one of the Jazz's player acquisitions during the offseason — was responsible for nearly half of his team's 36 points in the first quarter, but all-around scoring from the Spurs kept Utah's lead at just three heading into the second quarter.
A shooting slump from the Jazz allowed San Antonio to take advantage early in the quarter, with forward Keita Bates-Diop hitting a 3-pointer to bring the Spurs within two points midway through the second quarter, but a series of missed shots-turned Jazz alley-oops forced Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to take his first timeout with his team down seven.
As the second quarter wound down, San Antonio found a groove through its new big-man Sandro Mamukelashvili and continued to heat up on offense after back-to-back 3s by point guard Devonte' Graham.
Graham finished the half with a team-high 12 points to both oppose Horton-Tucker's 27 and tie the game, but it was the Jazz who took a 64-62 lead into the locker room after a last-second make gave them back the lead.
Zach Collins got to work down low in the second half for San Antonio, which fought back-and-forth with Utah over the course of the third quarter. By the end of the game, the 6-11 center registered 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists, playing a crucial role despite his team's loss.
With under a minute to play in the third quarter, the Spurs showed signs of life, having been down by as many as eight, with three straight layups from three different players. Their momentum was short lived, however, as the Jazz responded with a 12-2 run of their own to take a double-digit lead early in the fourth.
The rest of the game followed suit for San Antonio, though the Spurs added a couple to their 10-steal night to put pressure on the Jazz late in the game. It was not enough, but Branham finished with a team high 21 points, followed by Jones, Mamukelashvili and Graham, who each had 17.
With the loss, the Spurs further cemented their hold on the third-worst record in the league while the Jazz inched one game closer to the play-in tournament.
Though San Antonio played its last game in the city, it will still have two more "home" games in Austin, Texas before finishing the season on the road against the Dallas Mavericks. Next up for the Spurs is a trip to the Bay on Friday, where they will face the West's No. 6 seed Golden State Warriors. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
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