NBA: Jazz showing toughness, which Spurs coach wants more of from his squad

After an impressive comeback victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Utah Jazz are looking to secure the season series against the San Antonio Spurs when they host them on Thursday night.

The Jazz, who will once again be without their leading scorer Lauri Markkanen due to illness, overcame a 15-point deficit to defeat the visiting Timberwolves 127-122 on Tuesday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak and gave the Jazz some much-needed momentum.

Third-year guard Keyonte George led the way with a career-high 43 points, making six three-pointers. Meanwhile, center Jusuf Nurkic, despite suffering a bloody cut over his eyebrow, contributed a strong performance with 18 rebounds.

“Man, I'm proud of our team,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy, who also recorded his 100th career NBA win. “The resilience to play that hard and compete like that for all 48 minutes after being on the road 17 of the last 20 days, and coming back on a back-to-back against a good team that's waiting on us here, it speaks to the character of the guys.”

Despite their recent win, the Jazz still struggle defensively. They currently rank as the worst defensive team in the NBA, allowing an average of 127.4 points per game over 44 games.

Markkanen, who is averaging a career-high 27.9 points in his ninth season, has not played since January 12 due to the illness.

“Playing without Lauri obviously changes the dynamic of a lot of guys’ roles because of the load he carries every night,” Hardy said. “I think it’s a very good signal that we’re capable of playing good basketball, and winning basketball when he doesn’t play.”

On the other side, the Spurs hold the second-best record in the Western Conference, but they have been inconsistent lately, going 5-5 in their last 10 games. San Antonio suffered a 111-106 loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama struggled in the game, recording his worst shooting performance of the season, going 5 for 21 (23.8%) from the field and finishing with 14 points, well below his average of 24.4 points.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson praised Houston for disrupting his team’s rhythm.

“There were just toughness plays all across the board and they showed themselves,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it was one thing that continued to hurt us other than just some toughness.

“Mental, physical, all across the board in a lot of different ways that got to us and snowballed,” he added. “They rode the momentum and they finished the job, and then we gave a lot away in participating in that. But give Houston a lot of credit.”

This matchup marks the second meeting between the Jazz and Spurs in four days. San Antonio won 123-110 at home on Monday, with Wembanyama scoring 33 points. The Jazz also beat the Spurs 127-114 when they met on Dec. 27.

—Field Level Media/Reuters