It’s time for Basketball: Spurs vs Jazz

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The Jazz decided to move on from Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell this season, and were able to convert their contracts into a passel of first round picks and another Rudy (former Spurs Rudy Gay). They were expected to be one of the teams at the bottom of the west this year, but they’ve been competitive with outstanding performances from Jordan Clarkson (in a starting role) and Lauri Markkanen. They’re in 7th place in the west, poised to take one of the final spots in a western conference that’s been wide open this year so far.

The Spurs beat the Jazz on October 11 in a meaningless preseason game, where Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell led the team with 24 and 22 points. Backup point guard Josh Primo showed out with 10 points in one of his last performances before being cut loose by the team. The Spurs could are looking forward to the possible return to action tonight by Blake Wesley which will provide the Spurs with a backup point guard for the first time in months, which hopefully will help to keep the team from running out of steam late in the game, which has been a common pattern as the team has blown leads at the end of games.

Look for another solid performance from Jeremy Sochan who is figuring things out on offense, and if both Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson can have decent shooting nights, this is a winnable game for the Silver and Black. The thing to watch for is to see if the Spurs can stand up to pressure, something they haven’t been good at this year, and the source of multiple fourth quarter collapses lately.

Game Prediction:

Gregg Popovich will petition the league for 10 minute quarters before the game. After his request is denied, he will pull the team in protest for the last two minutes of each quarter, but no one will notice the difference.

One final word:

Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!

San Antonio Spurs vs Utah Jazz
December 26, 2022 | 7:00 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass
TV: Bally Sports Southwest, SA

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