San Antonio Spurs vs Utah Jazz Match Player Stats On Apr 12, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 13, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY -- Gordon Hayward scored 14 points, and Rudy Gobert, George Hill and Shelvin Mack added 13 apiece to help the Utah Jazz close the regular season with a 101-97 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

Rodney Hood chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Jazz. Utah (51-31) extended its home winning streak to a season-best nine games.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker added 14 apiece to lead the Spurs. San Antonio (61-21) closed the regular season on a four-game losing streak.

The second-seeded Spurs will open the Western Conference playoffs against the seventh-seeded Memphis Grizzlies. The Jazz will oppose the Los Angeles Clippers in a battle of the fourth and fifth seeds.

Utah looked sharp on offense and defense throughout the first half. Offensively, the Jazz went 22 of 43 (51.2 percent) from the field. Defensively, they forced the Spurs to commit 10 turnovers and scored 13 points directly off the turnovers.

San Antonio led once before halftime, going up 6-5 after Parker drove for layup. The Jazz went back in front on a dunk from Gobert and extended their lead to 11-6 on back-to-back layups from Boris Diaw and Hill.

The Spurs cut the deficit to a basket multiple times during the first quarter, the final time on a Patty Mills 3-pointer that trimmed Utah's lead to 26-23. Joe Ingles quickly answered with a corner 3-pointer on the other end and then Hood banked in a 32-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the Jazz lead back to nine at 32-23.

Utah led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. The Jazz went ahead 46-33 on Hood's second 3-pointer. San Antonio rallied and cut the deficit in half early in the third quarter. The Spurs drew within five at 53-48 on a putback layup from Dwayne Dedmon.

Back-to-back baskets from Ingles and Hayward squashed a rally. The Jazz kept answering each Spurs basket and then used an 8-0 run -- capped by back-to-back baskets from Gobert and Ingles -- to 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-pointer from Leonard and Paul Gasol, to cut the deficit to 76-68. The Spurs kept applying pressure early in the fourth quarter. They finally took a 90-89 lead after Dejounte Murray capped a 9-1 run with a driving floater.

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 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.

NOTES: Jazz G Raul Neto missed his second straight game because of an ankle sprain. ... Spurs F Kawhi Leonard averaged 28.0 points in his previous three games against Utah. ... 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.