Jazz at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs' chances of catching the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference race are slipping away as they enter Sunday's home contest against the Utah Jazz. San Antonio trails the first-place Warriors by 3 1/2 games with just six to play and is comfortably settling into the second seed.
The Spurs weren't able to make up ground despite winning six of seven games but they enjoyed Friday's performance when they recovered from a 21-point, third-quarter deficit to post a 100-95 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. "It's a great win," San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. "We needed one like this. We didn't play good for 30 minutes of the game, but we bounced back. We were aggressive, we stayed together and we bounced back." Utah is working toward locking up the fourth seed and homefield advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The Jazz have won three straight games and lead the fifth-place Los Angeles Clippers by 1 1/2 games.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE JAZZ (47-29): Sunday's road test is big for Utah as it has lost five of its last seven away contests, with one of the victories coming against the lowly Sacramento Kings. The current overall winning streak began after standout center Rudy Gobert (league-high 196 blocked shots) sharply criticized the squad's shaky play and most of the players accepted the message since it was coming from a guy battling San Antonio All-Star Kawhi Leonard and Golden State All-Star Draymond Green for NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors. "Our defense is built around him," shooting guard Rodney Hood told reporters. "That's our job as wing players really, to take guys off the 3-point line and send them in there. Even if he isn't blocking shots, he deters guys."
ABOUT THE SPURS (58-17): San Antonio is two victories away from its third 60-win campaign in four seasons and is looking to finish strong and create momentum for the postseason. An interesting development against the Thunder was that coach Gregg Popovich didn't clear the bench and rest the starters when trailing by 21 with 18 minutes remaining as he sometimes has done in the past. "It's the NBA. It's 48 minutes and all kinds of things happen," Popovich said afterward. "People stop making shots, you start making some, maybe there's some turnovers, whatever, and you get back in the game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have won five of the past six meetings but the teams have split two contests this season.
2. San Antonio PF LaMarcus Aldridge is just 16-of-39 shooting while averaging 15 points over the past three games.
3. Utah PG George Hill (groin) will likely miss his third straight game.