Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images As much as the first half was one to forget, the second half was one to remember for the Spurs Coming off perhaps their most impressive win in years, the San Antonio Spurs looked to win another sans Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell. The feeling in the air was a bit of malaise, but that was likely always going to be the case going from playing the conference’s best team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the worst, the Utah Jazz. And by the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, you could see that feeling had bled into the game. Coach Mitch Johnson had to do his best Pop impersonation and call timeouts 30-seconds apart in order to wake his team up. They scored on back-to-back possessions but went cold after that. The Jazz were playing all the right notes in the quarter, pun intended, and led 32-17 at the end of one. Things weren’t working for more than just the team, too. Between quarters, the game operators started a celerity copycat cam and put a picture of Jack Black on the video board. No fan was pictured alongside him, though, and the screen would then change to an image of Vin Diesel. They’d soon just start showing fans in the Frost Bank Center like a normal fan cam. Two of the fans they showed were a couple of kids, couldn’t be older than 12. They were dancing like crazy and the crowd was eating it up. This seemed to wake everybody up, including the players. They had almost matched their entire first quarter output in the first 3:30 of the second. Charles Bassey was blocking shots, Malaki Branham got a steal, and the Spurs started chipping away at the Jazz lead. That energy faded quickly, though. After managing to cut it to an eight-point game, the Jazz regained the momentum and pushed their lead to as much as 20. Perhaps the biggest sign of how the half went for the Spurs was when savvy veteran Chris Paul tried slowing down Isaiah Collier and got called for a foul with 0.2 seconds left. Collier would make one of two free throws and send the Jazz into the locker room leading 67-51. You could sense the vibes in the building changed at halftime. The Spurs defense started making things happen, and they started to chip away at the lead. They held the Jazz to two made field goals in the first five minutes of the third. But it still seemed like they couldn’t get out of the way of themselves. With 5:53 left in the third, Bassey blocked Isaiah Collier and Tre Jones picked up the loose ball and started to lead the break. In a rare poor decision to pass, Tre turned it over, giving Keyonte George an easy dunk. This pushed the Jazz lead back to double digits instead of the Spurs potentially getting within seven. Things flipped over the last three minutes of the quarter, though, and the energy was completely on the Spurs side the moment Bassey threw down an alley-oop from Tre. That was cemented when Collier lost the balling going up for a shot with seconds left. Stephon Castle swatted the ball to Bassey, who got it to Julian Champagnie quickly, who hit Tre with an outlet pass. There was just enough time for Tre to get a layup off before the buzzer. All of a sudden, the Jazz only led by four. All that momentum carried over into the fourth. It took 34 seconds for the Spurs to tie the game. The lead would bounce back and forth for the next five minutes, but that stopped once Bassey blocked George and Paul found Castle breaking away for a dunk. Champagnie stole the ball on the next Jazz possession, making an incredible hustle play to save it, and found Barnes ahead of everybody for a dunk. For the remainder of the game, anytime the Jazz would make something happen, Paul would respond. He helped keep the Jazz at bay, and the others (Bassey, Barnes, Castle, and Keldon) would put it away. The Spurs became the sixth team this season to come back from 20 or more points down to win, defeating the Jazz 126-118. Play of the Game The Spurs were nice to put all their highlights in one half, and while there were a lot of great plays in the second half, the epitome of the comeback is this Tre Jones buzzer beater. at the BUZZER pic.twitter.com/yOWv7cfuTr— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 22, 2024 Game Notes One of Lauri Markkanen and Kyle Filipowski needs a number change. You could be fooled into thinking there were twins on the court for the Jazz if sitting far enough away from the court. Then, when trying to determine who did what on a play, you have to decipher whether the number on the jersey was 22 or 23. Feels like it’s only fair to fans, and probably also to those calling the game, for one of them to change their number to something that sets the two apart a bit more. Charles Bassey is all the way back. Players returning from ACL injuries sometime look like they’re still feeling the effects of the injury for months after returning to play. 11 months after tearing his, Bassey looks like he’s playing better than he was before getting hurt. He contested a team high 15 shots, had four screen assists, and attacked the rim. He ended with six blocked shots and was a force defensively in the second half. His play was a big part of the Spurs’ comeback victory. Chris Paul is still the Point God. It’s no secret small point guards don’t last in the NBA as long as other types of players. It’s also no secret Chris Paul isn’t your average small point guard. After not having the best year with Golden State last season, it was questioned what he had left in the tank. Last night, he showed us he still has enough to take over games in the fourth quarter. In the 10:38 he played of the fourth, Paul scored 11 points, had three assists and rebounds, and added one steal. It was a reminder that gods do walk amongst us in some form or fashion. Collin Sexton might be the most interesting piece moved at the deadline. Most would say the outcome of this NBA season likely ends with the Thunder and Boston Celtics facing off in the NBA Finals. And when that’s the case, the NBA trade deadline can be a bit quiet. That doesn’t mean some teams won’t take their swing, or perhaps, just try to set themselves up for the future. Sexton is averaging 15.8 points in 26.8 minutes per game and shooting 44.4% on 3.9 three-point attempts. He’s only 26 years old and is on a very tradable contract. With the Jazz in a position to start trading away some vets to get more assets, Sexton should be a hot commodity. Outside of him, who knows what the quality of players on the trading block will look like (and that’s not to say Sexton is actually on the block). Best of what was said Mitch Johnson: Asked about team improvement from last year. “It’s just nice to see the growth. You know, Pop always talks about the process and not skipping steps. And you see, you know, obviously, the veteran presence, but these young guys maturing before our eyes a little bit. Hopefully, we can continue to keep that momentum going.” Chris Paul: Asked about directing Stephon Castle on a play that got Castle a layup. “I saw how they was guarding me, and I know his aggression and how you can get to the goal. I just told him protect yourself. You’re going up there trying to turn sideways to dunk it. I said, just take the layup. Just take the layup.” Charles Bassey: Asked about if Wemby should be moved to the bench when back. “Sounds good to me, man.” Stephon Castle: Asked about if he knew what Chris Paul was seeing in the play mentioned above. “I thought he just wanted to switch. I mean, he had it going at that point, so I was telling him to go at him. So, when he called for me, I thought he was just getting a switch.” Harrison Barnes: Asked about pulling Keldon aside after he was hit with a technical foul. “Man, Keldon does that dunk every day in practice. And I tell him, you know, we’re going to get called for a tech in game of time. And he’s always laughed. And then today was the day now. It didn’t hurt us in that moment specifically, but it’s just one of those things where you talk about certain things in practice. You talk about certain things of how it could come back to bite you.” Next Game: Vs Golden State Warriors on Saturday The Spurs try to win three straight for the second time since December 2022 as they take on Steph Curry and the Warriors on Saturday