The San Antonio Spurs have hit a groove, and Monday night offers another chance to keep it rolling.
After a 121-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Halloween, the Spurs return to Frost Bank Center riding a four-game winning streak and looking for No. 5 against the Utah Jazz. San Antonio already handled Utah once this season, pulling out a 117-111 overtime win in Salt Lake City, and now gets the rematch at home.
Victor Wembanyama was the headline in the Minnesota victory, and for good reason. He finished with 43 points and six blocks, controlling both ends and making the paint a tough place to operate. Even with that kind of production, he suggested there may still be more coming.
"Hopefully, yeah," Wembanyama said when asked if some of the moves he's been working on behind closed doors would make their way into games. "It's always a challenge to balance individual development and team goals because… we're not out there to work on our game. We're here to win games."
That balance has been a big part of San Antonio’s early-season surge. The Spurs have been getting contributions all over the floor, not just from their franchise centerpiece.
De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Wembanyama are projected to start again, and that group has been building chemistry as the season opens. Fox posted 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against Minnesota, while Harper turned in 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Their play has given San Antonio more ways to create offense and eased the pressure on Wembanyama to carry everything himself.
Harper said the team understands how important it is to put Wembanyama in the right spots.
"I think we do a great job at getting him to his spots," Harper said. "At the end of the day, he knows we have belief in him. When (he) gets to (his) spots, he's pretty much unguardable."
Vassell kept doing the little things that matter, even if they don’t always jump off the stat sheet. Julian Champagnie added 12 points, Luke Kornet pulled down eight rebounds and Carter Bryant gave the Spurs solid minutes off the bench.
Castle’s night was quieter on the box score - he finished scoreless while dealing with a migraine - but his decision to stay on the floor drew praise from Mitch Johnson.
"A lot of people wouldn't have went into work if they were feeling like Steph Castle," Johnson said. "Sometimes, in this sport, it doesn't get enough attention."
Johnson also had plenty of respect for what Utah brings into the matchup, even with the Jazz sitting at 1-5.
"It is hard to win in this league," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of the Jazz in Salt Lake City. "That's a very good young team. A very well-coached team that is competing their butts off."
The Jazz will be without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkić, but they do get Lauri Markkanen back after he missed the first meeting between the teams. That gives Utah another scoring threat San Antonio has to track.
For the Spurs, the biggest issue to clean up is the ball. Even in the win over Minnesota, they gave up 29 points off turnovers, and that kind of sloppiness is the sort of thing that can undo a good night fast. Against a Utah team that pushed them close the first time around, those mistakes matter.
There’s also still the broader matter of chemistry and growth. Wembanyama’s comments about balancing personal development with winning fit the way the Spurs have approached this stretch, with the team-first mindset showing up throughout the four-game run. Harris is still waiting to make his regular-season debut, but San Antonio has found enough production elsewhere to keep moving.
Four wins in a row have already changed the feel around this team. A fifth would push it even further.
In Other News...
Jazz Struggles Are Putting Lauri Markkanen's Future In Focus
Lauri Markkanens name is already hovering over the Jazzs early-season struggles, but the organizations stance remains clear: he is viewed as a core player, and Utah wants to make the most of his prime years. Even with the team off to a slow start, the front office is not treating a Markkanen deal as the first answer to the problem, especially with the roster still searching for the kind of support that can stabilize a rough stretch.
Utah is expected to look for help around him before it ever gets to that point, with the focus on improving the supporting cast and giving the team a better chance to climb out of its current hole. If the situation ever changes enough to force a bigger decision, the Jazz believe Markkanen would still carry major value on the market, the kind of value that could bring back a significant return. [Read more 🡒]
Will Hardy Just Put The Jazzs Biggest Early Problem On Blast
The Jazzs rough start kept rolling against Portland, and Will Hardy did not spend much time dressing it up afterward. Utahs fourth straight loss came with the kind of offensive mess that makes a coach sound more frustrated than angry, as Hardy pointed to sloppy possession play and cold shooting while still saying the defense was good enough to give the team a chance.
For a young group still trying to find its footing, the concern is not just the result but the pattern behind it. Hardy has been stressing that every game has to teach something, and this one offered a blunt lesson about how hard it is to survive when the ball keeps getting turned over and the shotmaking never arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Face A Costly Lauri Markkanen Decision
Lauri Markkanen keeps surfacing in trade chatter, and it is easy to see why the Jazz forward would draw attention from a team like Golden State. Utah has been open to listening on veteran pieces as it continues to shape its roster, and Markkanens blend of size, scoring and versatility makes him one of the more intriguing names on the market. The catch is that he is not the kind of player a team simply picks up for a modest return, especially with his contract adding another layer to the discussion.
For the Warriors, the interest runs straight into the realities of their cap sheet and their long-standing reluctance to give away draft capital. Any serious pursuit would likely force them into a difficult balancing act, and that is before the Jazz even factor in what they would want back for a player of Markkanens caliber. So while the fit makes sense on paper, the price and the mechanics of making it work could be enough to keep this one in the rumor stage for a while. [Read more 🡒]