Riding an 8-game winning streak and coming off consecutive wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs entered the ultimate trap game. Returning home for multiple games for the first time since November 20 and coming in 13-0 against sub-.500 teams, the Spurs ran into a Utah Jazz team that upset the Detroit Pistons the night before and were out for more blood tonight. Down De’Aaron Fox and cold on offense after the first quarter, the Spurs couldn’t keep up with a white-hot Utah team that seemingly couldn’t miss, and despite a late rally to briefly tie things up, the Jazz did what they did all night: respond to hand the Spurs their first (official) loss in nine games.

The Spurs were a little asleep at the wheel to start the game, with Mitch Johnson calling a timeout just three minutes in after consecutive Jazz threes had his team down 4-10 early. Stephon Castle responded by aggressively driving to the rim for five quick points and two steals on the other end as part of an 8-0 run, and Keldon Johnson entered and brought his hot three-point shooting over from OKC, hitting his first three attempts. The Spurs got the lead as high as 11 at 30-19, and while the Jazz hit 6-7 from three in the quarter themselves to keep things close, the Spurs still led 40-32 after the first 12 minutes.

Victor Wembanyama, who was back into he starting lineup tonight, was getting to the rim with ease before subbing out early in the second quarter, but the good vibes ended there, and the Spurs’ hot offense from the first quarter completely abandoned them. They started getting sloppy with the ball and settling for jumpers instead of attacking the Jazz’ porous defense. On the other end, they struggled to get stops, and the Jazz remained hot, taking a lead they would never relinquish just past the midway point of the quarter on a 14-3 run. The same problems continued to plague the Spurs throughout, and Utah stretched the lead as far as 14 before the Spurs scored the last four points of the half to get within ten, 60-70, after being outscored 38-20.

Things weren’t any better out of halftime, with the Jazz continuing to get what they wanted on offense while the lid traveled across to the other basket for the Spurs. The lead was out to 17 at 82-65 after Utah started on a 12-5 run before the Spurs finally got the memo to attack the paint more. They got within 10 a couple of times, but the Jazz always had an answer. The Spurs were also constantly getting stripped or missing open threes, preventing them from going on any kind of sustained run, and they were still down 87-98 heading into the fourth quarter.

Keldon scored the first five points of the fourth for the Spurs, and while Utah again responded with threes each time, the Spurs kept grinding, using the offensive glass and tightening up on defense to claw their way back. A driving Wemby dunk-and-one got them back within three on a 9-0 run, and five straight points from Stephon Castle tied things up at 106 apiece, but that would be as close as they got. Not to get too repetitive, but again the Jazz responded, this time with a 10-4 run while Wemby sat. Wemby re-eneterd with 4 minutes left, but whatever rally magic that Spurs had left was used up, and the Jazz were back up by double-digits with 2 minutes left, and the Spurs went on to lose 127-114.

Up next: Monday vs. Cleveland Cavaliers