San Antonio Spurs vs Utah Jazz Box Score on Dec 21, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 22, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY -- Rodney Hood scored 29 points and made several critical fourth-quarter baskets to lift the Utah Jazz to a 100-89 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

Derrick Favors added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Ricky Rubio chipped in 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Jazz.

Utah (15-18) snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in the last nine games.

Bryn Forbes led the Spurs with 12 points. Four other players each scored 11 points.

San Antonio (22-11) had a three-game winning streak end after struggling on offense throughout the first half.

Utah took advantage of a prolonged shooting drought from San Antonio and seized control late in the first quarter. The Spurs missed nine straight shots spanning a 5:15 stretch from late in the first quarter to early in the second quarter.

The Jazz surged ahead 20-14 on a tip-in basket from Favors and back-to-back baskets from Alec Burks and Hood. They eventually boosted the lead to 30-17 early in the second quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from Joe Johnson and Rubio.

San Antonio briefly rallied after Forbes ended its drought with a 3-pointer. The Spurs pulled with 35-29 on back-to-back baskets from Davis Bertans and Joffrey Lauvergne.

Utah quickly pushed the margin back to double digits. The Jazz went up 42-29 when Hood converted a four-point play to cap a 7-0 spurt.

San Antonio came alive in the third quarter. The Spurs went 12 of 18 from the floor in the quarter and were 3 of 3 from outside. They opened the quarter with an 11-1 run and cut their deficit to 51-49 on a turnaround jumper from Aldridge.

The Jazz ended the initial run with a 3-point play from Favors. They boosted the lead back to 59-51 on a 3-pointer from Jonas Jerebko.

San Antonio cut the deficit to a single basket again, making it 72-70 when Kyle Anderson beat the third-quarter buzzer with a reverse layup.

Parker drove for back-to-back layups and drilled a jumper to cut Utah's lead to 82-81 in the fourth quarter. Hood snuffed out the comeback when he answered with baskets on three straight possessions to fuel a 13-2 run that put the Jazz up 95-83 with 3:53 left.

NOTES: Jazz G Donovan Mitchell missed his second straight game (toe contusion) and G Raul Neto (concussion) missed his sixth straight game. G Nate Wolters (back) was also a late scratch for Utah. ... Spurs G Manu Ginobili (rest), G/F Danny Green (left groin tightness) and F Pau Gasol (groin) did not play after seeing action against Portland on Wednesday. ... G Rodney Hood averaged 13.0 points per game against the Spurs last season. ... Spurs F LaMarcus Aldridge managed just three first-half points on 1-of-6 shooting and finished with 11 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.