SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame
The Spurs couldn't overcome poor shooting out of the gate in a 110-104 loss to the Jazz
"Overall I thought we did a good job" Popovich said, noting that everybody wants to win them all,
He said he was pleased with the bounce back that his team showed after they hit just 1-11 from three in the first half, which he thought impacted the energy. He said he has a great group of guys who did everything they could to come back from a deficit as big as 18, but they couldn't complete the comeback against a solid Jazz team.
Pop said he expects to win every single game, so when they lose they try to figure out why. He imparted some golden coaching wisdom, saying that whether it's a championship-caliber team or a young group like this, the same things win and lose games, and it's about who does those things better for more of the 48 minutes.
PHOTOS: Spurs fall to Jazz 110-104
Game story
First Quarter
The Spurs played aggressively in a fairly even start to the game. Doug McDermott got a couple of early buckets, but a couple of early fouls as well.
Lonnie Walker IV and Jock Landale were two of the first guys off the bench, and the former passed to the latter for a pick-and-pop three.
Devin Vassell got off to a 2-2 start, as did Keldon Johnson. The game was close as could be for most of the quarter, but the Jazz started hitting threes toward the end.
Walker found Bates-Diop in transition for a layup, then attacked Rudy Gobert on a switch and went past him to kiss it off the glass.
Utah closed on a 10-4 run and led 34-27 after the first.
Second Quarter
Utah extended their lead to nine before Jakob Poeltl popped home a floater over Rudy Gobert.
San Antonio generated and took a number of open three-point looks, but couldn't knock them down. They cut the deficit back to four with buckets from Derrick and Keldon, but Utah rattled off a 9-0 run and drew two Popovich timeouts in the span of a minute and a half as the Jazz lead ballooned to 13.
The execution out of the timeout wasn't as desired, as a bad pass by Jock Landale turned into a 15-point Jazz lead.
The Spurs' offense, which has been surprisingly potent, was limited to a paltry 16 points in the period. Utah made the lone three-point shot of an ugly, choppy quarter, and that was the difference in the second as the managed just 19 points.
The teams combined to shoot 5-25 from three in the first half, with the Spurs just 1-11. San Antonio did manage to score three of the last four buckets of the half, with Derrick White closing on a pair of layups to make it 53-43 Jazz at the break.
Third Quarter
Doug McDermott started the scoring in the second half with a deadeye three, and the Spurs dodged about three bullets from deep until Joe Ingles finally made them pay, with Pop immediately calling time.
Utah quickly built their lead back up to 16, with Gobert erasing almost anything the Spurs tried inside. McDermott managed to get a few driving finishes to fall, cutting it back to a dozen.
McDermott hit Landale for a dunk, then Derrick White hit from deep, then White got it to Doug for a corner three in transition.
The Jazz built the lead back to 16, but Vassell slammed home a miss and then Keldon hit from the corner. Lonnie Walker IV drained a corner three, then put former teammate Rudy Gay on skates before dishing to Jock for a dunk to end the third.
San Antonio trailed 82-70 heading to the final 12 minutes.
Fourth Quarter
The Spurs went to a zone defense, and Utah quickly pushed the lead to the largest of 18.
Derrick White hit a three and clapped encouragingly at his teammates. He hit McDermott for another, and the Jazz called time up 14 with 8 minutes to play.
Out of that timeout, White found Vassell for a stand-still three from the corner.
The Spurs ran hammer perfectly with Vassell passing to McDermott in the corner, but the shot rimmed out. San Antonio's own Jordan Clarkson got an and-1 through physical defense by Vassell, putting Utah back up 17. He led the Jazz with 21 points.
The Spurs cut it to 12 as San Antonio's third stringers waited to enter, and a three by Derrick that would have cut Utah's lead to single digits rolled around the entire rim before popping out.
Pop kept his guys in for another minute, but the Jazz punched home a pair of dagger dunks. Then he put in Tre Jones, Josh Primo, Joe Wieskamp, Devontae Cacok, and Drew Eubanks.
That group quickly cut the deficit to 8 and forced all of Utah's starters to come back in with 54 seconds left. They closed out a 110-104 win for the Jazz despite a spirited effort by the bench group.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (14-18) will host the Utah Jazz (23-9) tonight. The Spurs are 1-0 versus Utah this season.
In the Spurs' previous game, the team got a convincing 144-109 at home against the Pistons Sunday night.
Keldon Johnson led the team with 27 points, rookie Jock Landale added 18 points and Jakob Poeltl finished with 14 points.
The Spurs are on a three-game winning streak, but they'll be without Dejounte Murray again tonight due to health and safety protocols.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. Utah's Donovan Mitchell is out tonight versus the Spurs.
2. The Jazz are currently averaging 59.1 points per game in the second half on 49.0 percent shooting in 32 games this season
3. The Jazz have made 12 or more threes in three straight games.
4. The Spurs are 2-2 in the second game of a back-to-back this season.
5. The Spurs are 0-8 at home when trailing after the third period.
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