Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz - Game #73
The San Antonio Spurs got off to a fast start and held on for a victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. Here are the final grades! The San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to two games with a 118-111 victory over the Utah Jazz. The Spurs started strong on both sides of the court, with a 36-17 lead and a 20-5 run from Utah before the Jazz countered. The win improved the Spurs to 17-56, while the loss to the Jazz dropped them to 29-44. Devin Vassell and Wembanyama were both praised for their performances, while Jones was criticized for his lack of scoring focus. Sochan was particularly praised for his defensive performance and his shooting touch. Osman, who scored 17 points in only 20 minutes of playing time, could potentially be a valuable offensive weapon for the Spurs.
نشرت : منذ 4 أسابيع بواسطة SpursTalk/ في Sports
Devin Vassell and the Spurs took down the Jazz (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to two games with a 118-111 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The win improved the Spurs to 17-56, while the loss dropped the Jazz to 29-44.
San Antonio got off to a hot start on both sides of the court. Their offense was humming and their defense was stingy. A couple minutes into the second quarter, the Spurs boasted a 36-17 lead. Utah responded with a 20-5 run to close the gap — but the Spurs instantly answered with a run of their own to replenish the cushion.
For the rest of the game, that pattern continued. The Jazz would make runs but the Spurs would always have a timely answer. In reality, the game wasn’t really as close as the final score would suggest.
All in all, it was a good win. The Jazz are clearly in tank mode but the Spurs played a lot of quality basketball.
The good: Wembanyama’s was once again a dominating presence. Defensively, he blocked or altered countless shots. Offensively, what stood out the most was his passing. His court vision combined with his quick decision-making ability impressed. He finished around the rim with power. The bad: Wembanyama was too sloppy with the ball, as evidenced by his six turnovers. Cleaning up his game by making the easy play will make him more dominant as he matures. Wembanyama also picked up a couple of needless fouls. Offensively, his shooting touch wasn’t precise against the Jazz. He still had success on offense but would have had an absolute monstrous game if he had his normal touch.
This was another really good outing by Vassell. I didn’t have any issues with his shot-selection. He took what the defense gave him and only broke the offensive sets when it was necessary. Vassell’s passing wasn’t perfect but he was consistently making plays for his comrades. When he’s a playmaking, shot-creating force, he looks like a perfect fit next to Wembanyama. Against the Jazz, I also really liked his defense. He went the extra mile to make it rough for Utah’s perimeter players.
Sochan didn’t shoot it great from deep (2-for-7) but the misses didn’t derail his confidence. Instead, the second-year forward kept his intensity high no matter what was happening. Defensively, he was really good on the ball and equally good off the ball. His help-defense was timely and he did well on the boards. Offensively, Sochan was 5-for-9 from the floor and was particularly dangerous in the open court. This is two straight games where the youngster has played at a really high level.
Scoring-wise, Jones was a total zero. He rarely looked at the basket even though the Jazz were sagging off of him at every opportunity. To his credit, Jones made up for his lack of scoring focus by setting the table for his teammates. In fact, this might have been his best passing game in transition all season. Unfortunately, Jones also had four turnovers, which is uncharacteristically high for him. Defensively, he had a few positive possessions but didn’t move the needle much on that end.
With Keldon Johnson (knee) on the sidelines, Champagnie successfully filled the void. This had to be one of his better games of the season. He not only took open three-pointers, Champagnie found other ways to contribute offensively. His movement off the ball was much better than usual. Defensively, he had a few mistakes and lacked fundamentals at times but, as a whole, he was decently impactful on that end.
Coming off a game in which he was so atrocious that he was benched in the second half, Branham bounced back in fantastic fashion. It seemed like whenever the Spurs hit a lull, the 20-year-old would be ready to provide a jolt to get San Antonio rolling again. Not only were his three-point shots falling, he was making decisive, aggressive moves off the dribble. Nights like this show why the franchise still has hope that Branham can be a valuable offensive weapon going forward. He looked great scoring 17 important points in only 20 minutes of playing time.
Osman’s performance might have slipped through the cracks but he was awesome. He hit all three of his three-pointers, relentlessly ran the court, made a number of outstanding passes (particularly to Wembanyama) and rebounded the ball with moxie. When Osman plays like this, he looks like he could be a useful cog on a winning team.
San Antonio’s point guards shouldn’t make it a habit to go without a field goal like they did in Salt Lake City. In Wesley’s case, he didn’t even shoot the ball during his 15 minutes on the court. He passed up a few perimeter shots and should have been more selfish in transition. That said, Wesley was still able to impact the game with his clever passing and unrelenting defensive pressure.
The bad: Collins failed to grab a single rebound during his 15 minutes on the court. That’s not exactly what you want from your backup center. Collins also recorded five fouls while not providing a notable amount of aerial rim protection. The good: Thankfully, Collins was able to make his mark in the passing game. He was the focal point of the bench unit and dropped a number of valuable dimes. I also liked his physicality in the paint on both ends — even if that physicality didn’t show up in the boxscore.
Barlow got a couple of minutes after Collins found himself in foul trouble. Barlow spent his minutes gathering a couple of rebounds.
I continue to love when Pop goes with a nine-man rotation. The team’s cohesion is noticeably better when he goes with the shorter rotation. Giving Champagnie extra minutes worked out. Pop also drew up plays for Branham — and that strategy paid dividends.
المواضيع: Basketball, NBA, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs