Jazz top Spurs, turn their attention to Nuggets and playoffs

SALT LAKE CITY — There really was only one real bit of intrigue during Utah’s final seeding game on Thursday. That was at the beginning of the second half when the staff at the scorer’s table looked around in bewilderment.

They were wondering the same thing the officials were: Where did the clock operator go?

The game was briefly delayed after halftime as they had to wait for someone to man the clock. The scenario played out pretty quickly — first with what looked to be a replacement coming over to start the half, and then the original clock operator soon after returning to his seat — but it offered a brief reprieve to a game that was, in all reality, meaningless.

The Jazz beat the Spurs 118-112 in their final tuneup in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, before the playoffs begin Monday.

Utah entered the game already knowing its opponent for the playoffs (the Jazz will play the Nuggets) and the Spurs, due to wins by both the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns earlier in the day, had already been eliminated from postseason contention.

So the game, as many other Jazz bubble contests have been, was not so much about the end result and more about the preparation for the postseason.

“The most important thing for us as we head into the playoffs was to be healthy,” Utah head coach Quin Snyder said before the game. “I think being rested is part of being healthy. But really, (the goal is) to have guys available to play, and to be as close to 100% as we can — because the odds are when you get to the playoffs, that people are going to get banged up again. … The second thing for us was to really begin to evaluate and try to develop a bench.”

It just so happens that resting starters and developing a bench can go hand in hand.

Donovan Mitchell played just 11 minutes for Utah (11 points and three assists). Joe Ingles was in for 12 minutes (2 points and three assists); Royce O’Neale for 11 minutes before finishing on the bench (2 points and two blocks) and Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert didn’t even suit up.

With the Jazz starting five mostly sitting out, it’s allowed the bench — from regular rotation guys like Georges Niang and Tony Bradley to end-of-bench guys like Rayjon Tucker and Miye Oni — a chance to showcase how they can help the team.

“They care,” Snyder said. “You know, they play the right way. They play defense, they’ve done that throughout the course of the year and they’re staying focused on that. We had a little stretch there where we kind of got outside ourselves but went on a great run right after that by getting stops. They’re willing to move the ball to make each other better.”

Tucker scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting for Utah; Jarrell Brantley added 13 points, six assists and four rebounds; and Oni had 10 points, two assists and two rebounds.

After the Spurs cut the lead to just 3 points with 4:29 remaining, that group led a 9-2 run for the Jazz to put the game away.

As the final seconds ticked away, Snyder walked down the sideline and put his arm around Gregg Popovich. It was a show of respect to the man that Snyder, in some ways, coached under when he was with the Austin Toros. For the first time since 1997, the Spurs won’t be in the playoffs — a streak of 22 years.

“I mean, you can't say enough about the Spurs and obviously Coach Pop. ... They've been the premier franchise in the NBA for a long time,” Snyder said.

Popovich, though, isn’t one for much reflection. And that didn’t change after Thursday’s game, He said that he didn’t care much about the steak ending, instead choosing to focus on how proud he was his young team was able to claw back into playoff contention during their eight games in the bubble.

“I don’t dwell on the past … what’s important is the moment,” Popovich said. “You do what you gotta do and you move on. Looking at the past doesn’t do much good.”

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