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SALT LAKE CITY — The Spurs are good, and they did to the Jazz on Sunday what they’ve been doing to the rest of the league: beat them.
For the Spurs, Sunday’s 114-104 win over the Jazz was their 11th straight, while adding Utah to their list of victims during their recent hot streak.
Longtime Spurs Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and Tim Duncan did what they usually do, and the Jazz couldn’t overcome a 17-point halftime deficit in the loss.
Parker led the Spurs with a game-high 28 points. Ginobli, who’s missed 29 games this season due to injuries, came off the bench to score 23 and future Hall of Fame center Tim Duncan scored 13 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
The Jazz rallied behind a strong third quarter, but in the end, Parker and the Spurs proved to be too much for the Jazz to overcome.
“Tony (Parker) decided he wasn’t going to let them come back and he did what he did. That’s pretty awesome there,” San Antonio coach Popovich said to the San Antonio Express-News.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Parker said to the Express-News. “Utah is a very physical team and I was just trying to get to the free-throw line.”
Parker was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, and Ginobli was 14-of-15.
“Utah is a team that fouls a lot usually as they played hard,” Ginobli said to the Express-News. “Against them, you usually have the opportunity to go to the line more often."
Jazzman Gordon Hayward said it’s tough to rally on the Spurs.
"We'll always fight to the end. I think we've shown that throughout the season," Hayward told the Deseret News. "It's just you can't come back on every single team, especially on the road."
The Jazz are now 9-20 on the road this season.
The Jazz (29-28) host the Spurs (40-14) Monday in Game 2 of their home-and-home back-to-back.
Sunday’s loss to the Spurs was their sixth straight to San Antonio and their third loss in three attempts this season.
If the Jazz are going to beat the Spurs, they may have to do it without a couple of key contributors. C.J. Miles and Earl Watson both left Sunday’s game with injuries. Both players are scheduled to receive MRI’s Monday.
The Jazz are hoping that a strong second-half showing in Sunday’s game and a boost from the home crowd will aid them in their bid to upset the Western Conference's top team.
"Our fans are going to help us out, but (the second half) proved that we can play with these guys," Jefferson who led the Jazz in scoring with 19 points, said to the Deseret News. "We played them pretty good, but we're a young team. We make mistakes and they don't really make too many mistakes."
Hayward said the Jazz need to be aggressive from the start.
"We need to come out and punch them in the mouth first," Hayward said to the Deseret News. "They did it to us (Sunday), so it's what we've got to do to them (tonight).
The game tips at 7 p.m. at EnergySolutions Arena and will be televised by Root Sports.
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Jarrod is a freelance writer who writes Jazz previews for KSL.com. You can follow Jarrod Hiatt on Twitter at @jarrodhiatt.
