National Basketball Association
Utah 101, San Antonio 97
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #73 Tre Maddox, #71 Rodney Mott
Attendance: 19911

SALT LAKE CITY -- Now that Utah is finally at full strength, the Jazz are starting to offer a glimpse of what could make them so dangerous in the NBA playoffs.

Injuries have given Utah depth that few teams can match.

All of the team's reserve players have been thrust into bigger roles at one point or another this season and the experience proved valuable in a 101-97 win over San Antonio on Wednesday night.

The Jazz cleared the bench with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and those reserves were able to withstand a rally by the Spurs' bench in the final minutes.

"It was really good to see some guys step up and finish it out for us," said Gordon Hayward, who led the team with 14 points in only 23 minutes. "They've shown the ability all season to do that and step up in big situations."

All 13 players played for both teams. Both Utah and San Antonio received balanced contributions across the board.

Rudy Gobert, George Hill and Shelvin Mack each scored 13 points apiece for the Jazz. Rodney Hood added 10 points off the bench.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points while Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker added 14 apiece and Paul Gasol chipped in 13 to lead the Spurs.

Only Leonard and Aldridge played longer than 30 minutes for San Antonio. Gobert played a team-high 29 minutes for Utah.

"Quin (Snyder) and I basically did the same thing," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Got some good minutes for the main players so they get a good workout tonight and then, at the very end, the young kids came in played. It was a good experience for them and good workouts for everybody else."

Utah (51-31) extended its home winning streak to a season-best nine games. The Jazz will oppose the Los Angeles Clippers in a battle of the fourth and fifth seeds and the series starts Saturday in Los Angeles.

San Antonio (61-21) closed the regular season on a four-game losing streak. The second-seeded Spurs will open the Western Conference playoffs Saturday against the seventh-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and are eager to reverse their recent slide.

"The team should be fresh," Gasol said. "That's one thing. And the team should be hungry. This last week or so, the losses that we've had should fire us up and (help us) understand that now is playoff time. Now is not time to play around. It's time to go and be down to business, accept the challenge and win games."

Back-to-back baskets from Gobert and Ingles helped Utah surge to a 74-58 lead with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter.

San Antonio answered with a 10-2 spurt, bookended by 3-pointers from Leonard and Gasol, to cut the deficit to 76-68. The Spurs kept applying pressure early in the fourth quarter and finally took a 90-89 lead after Dejounte Murray capped a 9-1 run with a driving floater.

Utah's bench came to the rescue.

Mack drove for a layup, fed Jeff Withey for an alley-oop dunk and knocked down a 3-pointer in three possessions to put the Jazz back in front. Davis Bertans gave the Spurs a temporary 97-96 lead on a corner 3-pointer, but Alec Burks answered with one of his own to put Utah ahead for good heading into the final minute.

"We're going to need everybody, I'm sure, at various times," Snyder said. "Hopefully, the health that seems to be there will stay there and we'll be able to have the bench we kind of envisioned earlier in the year. It was good to see that tonight with different guys contributing."

NOTES: Jazz G Raul Neto missed his second straight game because of an ankle sprain. ... Spurs F Pau Gasol became the 43rd player in NBA history to score at least 20,000 career points. ... Utah had a 17-4 advantage on points off turnovers through the first three quarters. ... San Antonio finished with 42-36 advantage on the boards. Jazz C Rudy Gobert finished the regular season with 1,035 total rebounds -- the second-best mark in team history. Truck Robinson set the record with 1,288 rebounds in 1977-78. ... Spurs F Kawhi Leonard averaged 28.0 points in his previous three games against Utah.
Top Game Performances
 
San Antonio   Utah
LaMarcus Aldridge 18 Scoring Gordon Hayward 14
Patty Mills 5 Assists George Hill 5
Dewayne Dedmon 8 Rebounds Rudy Gobert 9
Tony Parker 4 Free Throws Made George Hill 4
LaMarcus Aldridge 3 Steals Derrick Favors 3
LaMarcus Aldridge 1 Blocks Alec Burks 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
San Antonio 97 45.3 8-21 11-13 16 42 2 12 15
Utah 101 50.6 10-26 13-20 24 36 5 10 17
Upcoming Games
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against LA Clippers. The Jazz have a W/L % of .640 after a win and .594 after a loss.
  • San Antonio will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Spurs have a W/L % of .742 after a win and .750 after a loss.