As the San Antonio Spurs fight to get out of their downward spiral during a brutal stretch of schedule, the same few players continued to carry the scoring load in their 110-99 loss to the Utah Jazz. DeMar DeRozan had his usual 22 points on 10-17 shooting along with 6 assists. Dejounte Murray stuffed the stat sheet with 15 efficient points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists — albeit with 4 turnovers, and Rudy Gay remained the most steady source of points off the bench with 17 points on 7-13 shooting, while Patty Mills and Lonnie Walker combined for just 4 points on 2-7 shooting.
While he didn’t do much after that because of — you guessed it — foul trouble, Jakob Poeltl was a bright spot early, scoring all six of his points in the first quarter while showing that he can still score without dunking.
Sometimes the Spurs capitalize off broken plays too, with Gay hustling to save a loose ball and getting it to Murray for the and-1 as the Spurs fought to stay in the game in the first half.
Gay and Murray continued to be a main source of points in the second quarter with a couple of stop-and-pops. I know fans often want to see more ball movement — although the Spurs did have 25 assists on 42 baskets — but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.
Devin Vassell continues to start in the injured Derrick White’s place, and despite some inconsistent scoring nights, he was the only other Spur in double figures against the Jazz with 11 points on 4-8 shooting, including a nice three after snatching an errant pass that just so happened to be the Spurs’ first of the night.
The Spurs will complete their miniseries against a possible playoff foe — should they make it through the play-in — in Utah on Wednesday while trying to avoid their fifth straight loss. It’s hard to see this tired squad finding their form between now and then, but with this team, you just never know.
