The San Antonio Spurs kept rolling Monday night, handling the Utah Jazz 119-97 for their fifth straight win and doing it with the kind of balanced attack that makes them look awfully hard to pin down.
San Antonio jumped on Utah early, taking the first quarter 27-16 before the Jazz briefly clawed back to within a point. That was as close as it got.
The Spurs closed the first half strong, then came out of the break and pushed the margin all the way to 26, turning the game into a runaway. It was a much cleaner response than last week’s overtime battle with Utah, and this time the Spurs stayed in control from start to finish.
The win also gives San Antonio five in a row, a stretch they matched five times last season. After opening 0-2, the Spurs are looking every bit like a title threat, and Monday was another reminder of why: they can beat you in waves, with different players taking turns carrying the load.
This time, no one came close to Victor Wembanyama’s 36-point eruption from the October 28 win over Utah. Instead, the scoring was spread all over the roster.
Seven Spurs finished in double figures, with Dylan Harper leading the way in points. Keldon Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench in what was his best outing of the young season.
With all five starters in double figures, Johnson providing a lift as a reserve, and San Antonio shooting 46.2 percent from the floor, the depth stood out as the team’s biggest edge.
Julian Champagnie and Luke Kornet also gave the Spurs solid two-way minutes, adding to the feeling that this was a complete team performance rather than a night built around one star.
Utah’s Darryn Peterson had a quieter night after his strong showing in the earlier meeting between the teams. In that overtime loss, the second-overall pick scored 18 points, a career high, but didn’t play a single minute in overtime.
Monday brought 14 points on 38.5 percent shooting, along with six assists and three steals. That stat line had some positives, but it still fell short of the kind of impact Utah needed.
The Spurs and the rest of the NBA are off Tuesday, Election Day across all 50 states, before San Antonio returns Wednesday to host the Dallas Mavericks.
In Other News...
Spurs May Have Found Exactly The Kind Of Big They Needed
The Spurs have spent enough time searching for reliable frontcourt depth to know how valuable a steady backup big can be, and Tarris Reed Jr. is starting to look like the kind of rookie who fits that need. At 23, he arrives with the maturity of an older first-year player, and while his minutes have been limited so far, the appeal is pretty clear: he looks NBA-ready in the areas San Antonio needs most, especially on the glass.
What makes Reed interesting in this spot is not flashy production but practicality. The Spurs are viewing him as a useful reserve option who can hold up if other bigs miss time, which matters for a team that wants dependable size behind its main rotation. In a league where rookie bigs often need time, Reeds readiness gives San Antonio something it can actually plan around. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama Just Dragged The Sixers Into A Growing NBA Debate
Victor Wembanyama has a way of making even the leagues off-court business conversations feel bigger than they are. As the 76ers keep adding prediction-market ties to their broader commercial portfolio, the Spurs star has drawn a line between the kind of partnerships he wants to stand behind and the ones that are becoming more common around the NBA, putting a spotlight on a debate that goes well beyond one teams sponsorship list.
Philadelphias new multi-year deal with Kalshi made it the first NBA team with an official prediction market partner, and it comes amid a wider trend of players and teams linking up with betting-adjacent companies. Wembanyamas preference for promoting healthy habits instead of gambling partnerships lands in the middle of that shift, and by nodding toward stars such as LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, he has helped turn a sponsorship story into a leaguewide conversation with plenty more to come. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs May Have Found The Formula Behind This Early Surge
After an 0-2 start, the Spurs have settled into a rhythm that looks a lot more sustainable, and it starts with how they turn defense into easy offense. Their five-game winning streak has been driven by relentless pressure, and no team has been better at getting out in transition. San Antonio leads the league in fast-break points, averaging 20.9 per game, a sign that the pace is not just fast but purposeful.
Victor Wembanyama has been central to that identity, using his shot-blocking and overall defensive presence to spark runouts before opposing teams can get set. The Spurs recently piled up 26 fast-break points in a win over the Utah Jazz, the kind of night that shows how dangerous they can be when the defense is dictating the terms. The question now is whether this early formula can hold up once opponents start making a point to take it away. [Read more 🡒]