Mudiay, Gobert Not Enough As Jazz Struggle To Find Rhythm In Loss To Spurs

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Solid performances by Jazzmen Emmanuel Mudiay and Rudy Gobert weren’t enough as the Utah Jazz struggled to find a rhythm on both offense and defense in their first game back from the NBA All-Star break against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Jazz hosted the Spurs in the first game of a back-to-back for Utah at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday, February 21.

After trailing the Spurs 27-21 at the end of the opening quarter of play, San Antonio blitzed the Jazz in the second quarter by 13 points to take a 65-46 lead at halftime.

Jazz Spurred By San Antonio

The Spurs maintained their advantage throughout the third quarter and even stretched the scoreboard to a 25 point margin with 1:29 remaining before the fourth quarter.

After a burst off the bench by Jazz second unit guard Emmanuel Mudiay, the Spurs regained control midway through the final quarter of play to put the game away for a 113-104 victory.

always ready E pic.twitter.com/ZyTN8abCS8

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 22, 2020

“We did respond,” said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder after the loss. “We just responded too late.”

Mudiay and Gobert

Mudiay came off the bench to spark a late-game run by the Jazz and finished with 18 points on 6-10 shooting to lead Utah’s second unit. The Jazz backup guard added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and a block in 18 minutes of play.

Gobert carried the Jazz through the first three quarters of play and was the only Jazzman with an efficient offense performance until Mudiay’s run. In the first game back from his first NBA All-Star appearance, Gobert led the Jazz with 18 points on 7-8 field goals. He pulled down 14 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, and swatted a block in 38 minutes on the court.

Rudy with his 43rd double-double of the season pic.twitter.com/dFpk4i06W5

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 22, 2020

Jazz Performances

Fellow Jazz all-star Donovan Mitchell struggled against the Spurs. Mitchell finished with 12 points on 5-14 shooting including 2-6 from three. He added 1 rebound and 4 assists in 32 minutes of play.

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— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 22, 2020

Jazzmen Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson each added 15 points.

Utah finished the game shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.

San Antonio Scoring

San Antonio ended up shooting 44.0 percent overall and 50.0 percent from downtown.

The Spurs were led by Dejounte Murray’s 23 points on 10-16 field goals. DeMar DeRozan poured in 18 points while LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points.

Back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career! 👏@DejounteMurray | #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/2kIlUW7PVp

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) February 22, 2020

With the victory, San Antonio improved to 24-31 on the season and 10-19 on the road.

Up Next

The Jazz have now lost each of the first two meetings of the 2019-20 season against the Spurs. Utah rematches with San Antonio in a pair of games on a back-to-back in the middle of March. The Jazz travel to Texas on March 22 and return home to host the Spurs on March 24.

With the Friday night loss, Utah suffered its first defeat in its last five games and moved to 36-19 on the season including 20-6 at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

The Jazz have a quick turnaround and host the Houston Rockets on Saturday, February 22 at 7 p.m. (MDT).

back at it tomorrow pic.twitter.com/Yu5bos0lDI

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 22, 2020

Utah lost to the Rockets at home in the first meeting of the season on January 27 and won the second matchup of the season in Clutch City via a Bogdanovic buzzer-beating triple on February 9.

Houston vs. Utah will broadcast on NBA League Pass, AT&T SportsNet, and 97.5 FM.