Hill, Jazz hand Spurs their first loss
SAN ANTONIO -- George Hill scored 22 points, including eight straight in a pivotal one-minute span of the fourth quarter, and the Utah Jazz made the plays they needed in the end game to surprise the San Antonio Spurs 106-91 Tuesday at the AT&T Center.
The Jazz, playing without starting forward Boris Diaw and for its fourth game of the season without forward/guard Gordon Hayward, led just 88-86 with 5:24 to play but got a 3-pointer, a basket and another basket and free throw by Hill to push the advantage to 96-88 with 4:05 remaining.
San Antonio missed six of its final seven shots and had a pair of turnovers in the final two minutes.
Rodney Hood added 19 points for Utah, while Trey Lyles had 15 and Shelvin Mack scored 14 for the Jazz.
The Spurs were led in scoring for the fifth straight game by Kawhi Leonard, who had 30 points. LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and was the only other San Antonio player in double figures.
Utah (2-2) roared to a 38-28 lead after the first quarter on the strength of 13 of 18 shooting (72.2 percent), including a 7-of-8 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. Hood had 11 points in the period to lead the Jazz and made two of his three 3-point attempts, but Mack and Hill joined him with two threes each. Utah averaged seven made 3-pointers in its first three games.
San Antonio (4-1) also shot well in the opening period, sinking 11 of 21 shots, and it needed every one to try to keep pace with red-hot Jazz.
Eight straight points from Leonard followed by an empathic defensive rebound and outlet pass to Tony Parker for a jumper allowed the Spurs to cut the Utah lead to 47-44 late in the second quarter. Another Leonard jump shot punctuated the next time down the floor punctuated a 14-0 San Antonio run and an Aldridge jumper tied the game at 48. Utah then scored six of the quarter's final eight points to take a 54-50 lead into intermission.
Hood led the Jazz with 14 points in the first half while Mack had 10. Leonard led all scorers in the first 24 minutes with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Aldridge added 10 for San Antonio.
The Spurs took the lead for the first time since the game's opening minutes on a three-point play by Aldridge at the 10:51 mark of the third quarter. Back-to-back buckets and a free throw by Lyles over a 30-second span allowed Utah to move back in front at 70-63 with 3:21 to play in the quarter. The Jazz led 73-71 heading into the fourth quarter.
An 8-2 Jazz run to start the fourth quarter pushed their lead to 81-73, but the Spurs fought back to within 88-86 on a putback dunk by Paul Gasol with 5:24 to play. Hill then torched his former team with eight straight points, and Utah held on for the victory.
NOTES: With its win on Sunday at Miami, San Antonio tied the best start in franchise history, 4-0. ... The Spurs led the league in both 3-point shooting percentage and free-throw percentage through Monday. ... Jazz coach Quin Snyder spent three seasons (2007-10) as the Austin Spurs' head coach, earning D-League Coach of the Year honors in 2008-09. ... In an Oct. 29 win vs. New Orleans, Kawhi Leonard logged his 300th career start and 235th win, earning him more wins than any other player in NBA history through 300 starts. ... Jazz assistant coach Brad Jones led the Austin Spurs from 2010-12, guiding the team to the 2012 D-League Championship. ... Former Jazz great John Stockton holds the Spurs opponent record for most assists in a game, handing out 28 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 15, 1991. ... The teams play again Friday in Salt Lake City. The Jazz will host Dallas in between.