We can therefore bring down the reigning champion, Oklahoma City, three times in a few days and lose, in the process, to the modest Utah Jazz. It was the painful return to earth that the San Antonio Spurs experienced on Saturday December 27, losing heavily at home (114-127) against a team which had only eleven victories in thirty NBA regular season games until then.
Victor Wembanyama started for the first time since his return from injury, having started the last six games on the bench after missing twelve games. Author of 32 points (best scorer of the match) to which are added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks, the Frenchman did not allow the Texan franchise, deprived of the injured De’Aaron Fox, to sign a ninth victory in a row.
Utah, who took on Detroit, another team at the top of the table the day before, took the lead on Saturday in the middle of the second quarter and kept it until the end of the match. His maximum lead reached 17 points before the Spurs came back to three points (104-101) in the last period, following in particular a spectacular dunk from “Wemby” followed by a successful free throw (8 out of 8 in this exercise for the Frenchman who on the other hand posted 0 out of 4 from three points).
Return home
San Antonio even equalized at 106 all thanks to a basket from Stephon Castle (20 points in total), but the Utah franchise managed to regain the lead and resist until the end, led by the 29 points of the Finn Lauri Markkanen and the 28 points of Keyonte George.
This meeting marked Spurs’ return home after six weeks of absence. The Texan players had spent twenty-eight of the last thirty-four days on the move, due in particular to the NBA Cup in Las Vegas, lost in the final against the New York Knicks.
San Antonio, which is still in second place in the Western Conference behind the Thunder, will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
