Jazz at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs attempt to remain perfect at home this season when
they entertain the Utah Jazz on Monday. San Antonio has won all 12 of
its home games this season and also has recorded eight straight home
victories against the Jazz.
The Spurs have won their past two games — against the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks — by an average of 23.5 points. San Antonio was terrific on defense against Atlanta and held the Hawks to 25 first-half points during Saturday's 103-78 victory. Utah lost back-to-back games to the Oklahoma City Thunder and has dropped five of its last seven overall. The Jazz are just 6-10 after opening the season with four victories in six games.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (10-12): Utah was vying to get back to .500 in Oklahoma City on Sunday but suffered a 104-98 loss in overtime when it scored just two points in the extra session. Knowing a road game in San Antonio was awaiting added to the urgency and the players and coaching staff were highly disappointed with the outcome. "I don't want to be melodramatic about it all, but it certainly hurt," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of the loss. "Heartbreak is pretty severe. It hurts. You can look at it a lot of ways. We were really, really good and we got really tired. We were clearly fatigued in overtime, and we couldn't get a bucket."
ABOUT THE SPURS (20-5): San Antonio leads the NBA in scoring defense (88.2) and only one other team is allowing under 96 per outing. The Spurs allowed just 13 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second against the Hawks and the 25 given up by coach Gregg Popovich's team is the fewest in a half this season by any NBA team. "I don't think you can play for Coach Pop if you don't play defense," point guard Tony Parker told reporters. "As long as Pop is happy, that's always been my goal."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have won two of the past three meetings after the Spurs were victorious in the previous five matchups.
2. Utah SF Gordon Hayward is averaging 22.6 points with six 20-points outings during the last nine contests.
3. San Antonio SF Kawhi Leonard is averaging 19 points, 9.5 rebounds and four steals during the past two games.