The Roundup—Heartbreak in San Antonio

Electric. Clutch. Gutsy.

And eventually ... disappointing.

Not every comeback has a happy ending, and that was the story of the night for the Jazz, who fought back from an 11-point deficit to force overtime before falling to the Spurs 124-120 Friday night in San Antonio.

Playing in a heavy playoff-like atmosphere, the teams went back and forth for the entirety of the second half until San Antonio sealed the victory in the final minute.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 35 points, while Ricky Rubio added 20 points, eight assists and two steals.

Derrick Favors had his second straight stellar game, finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Rudy Gobert hyperextended his left knee early in the fourth quarter but stayed in the game. He finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Utah (41-32) currently sits in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets.

For the second time this week, an opposing player had the game of his life against the Jazz. This time it was LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with a career-high 45 points (on 19-for-28 shooting) to go along with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Patty Mills (25 points), Manu Ginobili (18 points) and Rudy Gay (15 points) also scored in double figures for the Spurs (43-30).

Mitchell's efficiency has pretty much gone out the window (he's shooting 43.0 percent from the field—and only 20.5 percent from 3-point range—over his last five games) but when the Jazz need some buckets, he always seems to come through. Tonight was no different. Mitchell scored six points early to get Utah going after a rough start, and then saved his best for the fourth quarter. The rookie scored 14 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds left, in the final four minutes of regulation. It was Mitchell's seventh game with 30+ points this season.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was effusive with praise for Mitchell after the game.

"He's tough. Those two threes he made [at the end] were just ridiculous," Popovich said. "He's got courage and he's got the skill. He's willing to take those shots, so you've got to give him credit. He did a heck of a job. He just keeps competing and he's got no fear. And he makes good decisions. He's got a great pace about him—he's not frantic, he's not running around crazy or anything. He's looking to dump it to his teammates. He plays a complete game. He's really something else."

The Jazz dug themselves a hole early on by missing their first seven shots, but a 19-7 run got them right back in it by the 8:42 mark of the second quarter. Jonas Jerebko canned a corner three, Jae Crowder banked in a tough runner, and Favors made a putback layup in the closing seconds of the first period. Danté Exum sprinted into the lane and banked in a scooping layup and then threw an alley-oop to Favors for a layup to force a Spurs timeout. A jumper by Favors, a 3-pointer by Joe Ingles and a driving layup by Exum gave the Jazz their first lead of the game.

The teams went back and forth for much of the game before San Antonio took a 92-83 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Rubio, though, grabbed a steal and threw a bounce pass ahead to Favors, who converted a three-point play in transition. Rubio found Favors for a dunk on Utah's next possession. The Jazz closed the gap thanks to two free throws by Rubio, a corner three by Favors, two free throws by Gobert, and three steals and a transition layup by Mitchell. After a Spurs timeout, Ingles popped off a screen and drilled a three to tie the game at 100.

Mitchell proceeded to score 12 of Utah's final 14 points in regulation, trading buckets with Aldridge and Ginobili along the way. Ginobili made a driving layup, and Mitchell answered with a three to tie the game. Aldridge sank a tough turnaround, and Mitchell drove in for another layup. Aldridge hit yet another baseline turnaround and, after a turnover by Mitchell, Ginobili did what he has for the past 16 seasons—he drove into Gobert's body and then scooped in a tough layup to give the Spurs a four-point lead with 17.5 seconds remaining. Mitchell took the ensuing inbounds pass and hit nothing but net from four feet behind the 3-point line to pull the Jazz back within one with 14.9 seconds left. Ginobili made to free throws, and then Gobert drove to the rim for a dunk—despite a slap on the arm by Aldridge that wasn't called. Mills made two free throws to put the Spurs back up by three, but Mitchell took the ball down the court and somehow drilled an off-balance three with 3.6 seconds left to force overtime.

In overtime, neither team scored for nearly two minutes—until Gobert converted a three-point play in traffic. Mills and Mitchell traded jumpers, and then buckets by Mills, Gay and Aldridge (the last two after offensive rebounds) gave the Spurs a three-point lead with 34.7 seconds left. After misses by Mitchell and Ginobili, Ingles made one free throw with 3.6 seconds left before intentionally missing the second. The Spurs, though, grabbed the rebound and Mills sealed the win with two free throws.

-15

The Jazz were outrebounded 49-34, including 11-5 on the offensive glass.

11

The Jazz shot 11-for-28 (39.3 percent) from 3-point range, with Mitchell (4-for-13), Rubio (3-for-3) and Ingles (2-for-5) leading the way.

Jazz head coach Quin Snyder

The Jazz are now 0-16 on the road when they trailed entering the fourth quarter. ... Ingles finished with 13 points, four assists and two steals. ... Four Jazz players (Mitchell, Rubio, Gobert, Ingles) played 40+ minutes. ... The Spurs had a 40-17 advantage in bench points. ... Utah went 3-1 against San Antonio this season, with each game coming on the second half of a back-to-back set. ... The game featured 12 lead changes and seven ties.

The Jazz will travel to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 6:30pm MT.

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