Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Chris Paul scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Spurs' comeback.
- The Spurs overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the Jazz 126-118.
- Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points for Utah, but only 8 in the second half.
SALT LAKE CITY — Chris Paul can still close a game.
The 12-time NBA All-Star came to San Antonio to help mentor a young team. The Spurs (and the Jazz) got a hands-on lesson in the fourth.
Paul had 11 points and three assists in the fourth quarter, helping the Spurs finish off a 126-118 comeback win over the Jazz Thursday in San Antonio.
The Spurs outscored the Jazz by 24 points in the second half, wiping out Utah's 16-point halftime lead and pulling away at the end. Paul led a 13-4 run in the final four minutes, ending Utah's hopes.
Harrison Barnes had 25 points and 10 rebounds, including a clutch 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining that pushed the Spurs' lead to 10.
Lauri Markkanen had 27 points for Utah, but 19 of them came in the first half. The Jazz star forward only took two shots in the fourth quarter.
It initially looked like the Jazz were going to take advantage of San Antonio's length injury report; the Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassel and Jeremy Sochan on Thursday. Utah jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first half.
"I thought the first half, the energy, the tempo, the ball movement, the competitive spirit of the team was as good as we've seen in a while," Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
That push was led by Markkanen's big first half, as well as a surprise shooting spree from Brice Sensabaugh.
The second-year wing had fallen out of Utah's rotation of late and hadn't played in five of the last six games, including the last four. He got a chance on Thursday with Jordan Clarkson sitting out with left plantar fasciitis.
Sensabaugh airballed his first attempt, but quickly found his rhythm after that. He scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half to help Utah build the lead.
"He has not complained. He's not had like a woe-is-me mentality," Hardy said. "He's just come to work every day and he's taken some hard coaching. ... He understands what's expected of him, but to his credit, he was ready, and he deserves all of the credit for that."
In the second half, though, the game flipped.
The ball stopped moving and the Jazz stopped generating quality looks (Utah had 16 assists in the first half to only six in the second). There were defensive breakdowns, leading the Spurs to score 75 points after halftime, and it seemed like the Jazz lost just about every 50-50 ball. The energy, the tempo, the passing, and the competitive spirit was all but gone.
That made for a quick comeback for San Antonio.
"It's all of us," said Keyonte George, who had 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting and five assists. "We all have pockets in the game where we're not going to get the rebound, not getting the loose ball.
Still, the Jazz had a chance to win at the end. It was a one-possession game with four minutes remaining. Those are the moments that Hardy wants his group to experience (though, he would have preferred them just holding onto the big lead). It's when the game tightens up and real growth can occur; there's just no simulating those final minutes in practice.
Utah closed with youngsters Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh, alongside veterans John Collins and Markkanen.
Utah didn't close well, taking ill-advised shots, losing loose ball battles and letting the Spurs leak out for easy buckets. And thus the team's best half of basketball this season was squandered.
"At the end of the day, you've got to play two halves," said Collin Sexton, who had 18 points on 13 shots. "We've got to play 48 minutes. You can't allow the first half to get you too high or get you too low, you've got to always stay consistent and just continue to build off of that."
