03/27/24 11:43:00
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03/27 23:41 CDT Vassell scores 31 and Wembanyama has 19 points and 5 blocks to
lead Spurs past Jazz 118-111
Vassell scores 31 and Wembanyama has 19 points and 5 blocks to lead Spurs past
Jazz 118-111
By MATTHEW COLES
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) --- Devin Vassell scored 31 points, Victor Wembanyama had
19 points and five blocks and the San Antonio Spurs ran past the Utah Jazz
118-111 on Wednesday night.
"He's becoming a real problem for defenses," Wembanyama said of Vassell. "It's
beautiful to see him evolve like this throughout the year."
The Spurs, second in the league in assists behind Indiana, had a season-high 40
on 44 field goals. San Antonio also shot 51.8% from the field and were well
above .500 from 3-point range until missing their final four attempts and
finishing 16 of 33.
"That's Spurs basketball ... and Pop preaches it all the time," Vassell said of
coach Gregg Popovich. "We were knocking down shots today and everybody was
sharing it."
Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie and Malaki Branham all scored 17 points for
San Antonio. But it was Vassell who was the catalyst.
"Get downhill, get to my spots, pick them apart. If they're trapping me, I can
hit the short roll or skip or whatever the pass is, and they've been knocking
down shots," said Vassell, who had his sixth 30-point game of the season along
with six assists.
Popovich was just as happy about Vassell's defense.
"He was a monster at both ends for us," Popovich said.
Collin Sexton had 26 points and nine assists, while Lauri Markkanen scored 25
points for the Jazz, who lost their seventh in a row.
The Jazz led just once and trailed by double-digits most of the game.
"I feel like we were a step slow on everything. We weren't physical enough on
offense or defense," said Markkanen, who played the entire second half. "Once
you make a mistake, they can punish you. Every mistake just adds up, so that's
how they get on a run."
Utah got as close as 115-111 with 23.2 seconds remaining before Tre Jones
sealed the win for San Antonio with two free throws and Wembanyama swatted
Utah's next attempt.
"It was a bad choice," Wembanyama said about Taylor Hendricks trying to dunk on
him at the end of the game.
The Spurs are playing some of their best basketball of the season, beating
Phoenix 104-102 on Monday without Wembanyama and running their offense at its
most efficient against the Jazz.
"Just goes to show you, we're getting better each day," Vassell said.
"Obviously, we don't have that many games left but for us to show improvement
especially like this is great. Since the All-Star break, we've been an almost
totally different team."
Meanwhile, the Jazz (29-44) have the worst record in the league since the
All-Star break, when they traded away three rotation regulars. Utah used 12
players in the first quarter, the most this season.
"Just not enough intensity, physicality, and focus to start the game and we dig
ourselves a big hole," Utah coach Will Hardy said. "We had nine turnovers in
the first quarter. It's a combination of sloppiness and some stubbornness at
times."
San Antonio and Wembanyama dominated early, leading by as many as 19 in the
first half. And one sequence typified the rookie's impact.
Wembanyama blocked Markkanen's layup and then used his long stride to glide
downcourt for an alley-oop dunk on the other end. That gave San Antonio a 38-20
lead.
Capped by Markkanen's 3-pointer, the Jazz used a 17-3 run to get within four
points, but the Spurs still led 59-48 at the half.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host the New York Knicks on Friday night.
Jazz: Host the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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