Lauri Markkanen poured in 29 points and Keyonte George added 28 as the visiting Utah Jazz made all the winning plays in the final minutes to beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Saturday.
The Jazz led by 10 points at the half, by 17 early in the third quarter and by 11 heading into the final period.
San Antonio responded in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, using a 14-2 run capped by a layup by Stephon Castle to tie the game at 106 and set the table for a furious finish.
Utah was up to the task, rebuilding its lead to 123-112 with 7-2 run that was punctuated by George’s two free throws with 2 minutes to play.
Waller Clayton Jr. hit for 17 points off the bench for the Jazz, who followed up Friday’s home win over East-leading Detroit by beating the Spurs, the second-best team in the West. Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and Brice Sensabaugh had 11 for Utah.
Victor Wembanyama led all scorers with 32 points in his first start since Nov. 14 as the Spurs had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Keldon Johnson added 27 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, with Castle scoring 20 and Devin Vassell producing 11 points.
The Spurs led by 11 points with four minutes to play in the first quarter and were up 40-32 after 12 minutes of play.
The second quarter belonged to the Jazz in a big way. Utah pulled even at 49-49 when George canned a short jumper with 6:08 to play in the period. An 11-0 spurt punctuated by Markkanen’s layup with 2:14 left gave Utah a 62-51 lead.
The Jazz eventually led by as many as 14 points before San Antonio closed the half with a dunk by Wembanyama and a layup by Johnson to draw to 70-60 at the break.
Johnson’s 16 points before halftime led all scorers, with Wembanyama tallying 12 and Vassell hitting for 10 for San Antonio. Nurkic led the Jazz with 14 points before halftime while Markkanen had 13 and George added 12.
Utah pushed its advantage to a many at 17 points in the third quarter while the Spurs never got closer than 10. Wembanyama’s three-point play with 18 seconds left brought San Antonio to within 98-87 heading into the final period.
