Spurs defeat Jazz, get rare consecutive wins

Devin Vassell scored 31 points and Victor Wembanyama contributed 19 points in his return to the lineup as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 118-111 on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

Julian Champagnie, Jeremy Sochan and Malaki Branham each added 17 points as the Spurs won their second straight game. This marks only the fifth time all season that San Antonio (17-56) has won consecutive games.

Collin Sexton led Utah with 26 points and nine assists, but the Jazz (29-44) lost their seventh game in a row.

Lauri Markkanen added 25 points and John Collins scored 18 for Utah, which couldn't recover after a rough start. The Jazz trailed 29-15 after the first quarter and fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second quarter.

The Jazz made one final push after Vassell hit two free throws with 6:26 remaining to give the Spurs a 109-92 lead. Utah went on a 9-0 run to pull within eight points with 4:16 left.

Sexton and Markkanen hit 3-pointers in the final minute to make it a four-point game with 23.9 remaining.

Tre Jones and Vassell sealed the Spurs' win by hitting free throws in the final 20 seconds.

Utah went seven minutes without scoring in the first quarter while San Antonio reeled off an early 17-2 run. The Jazz were only 6-for-18 from the field in the rough first quarter.

The Jazz used a 10-0 run to tighten the game up in the second quarter, but the Spurs still led 59-48 at halftime.

Wembanyama added eight rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots after missing Monday's victory over Phoenix with an ankle injury. Cedi Osman contributed nine points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Spurs. Jones had a team-high nine assists.

The Spurs outshot the Jazz 51.2 percent to 47 percent — thanks in part to a 16-for-33 night on 3-pointers — and won the battle of the boards 41-36.

Keyonte George added 14 points and eight assists for Utah.

—Field Level Media