The Spurs nearly pulled off their first wire-to-wire win of the season with a 119-111 victory over the Jazz on Friday. The good guys trailed for just 14 seconds, all of which came within the first 62 seconds of game time, a feat which would be much more impressive had it happened in a game of consequence for both sides.
Instead, the Spurs found themselves facing off against a Jazz squad missing four starters, including Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Whether the Jazz were resting injured players, conducting some large-scale load management with a back-to-back looming tomorrow, or engaging in a little playoff seeding gamesmanship is hard to say, but the move resulted in a Joe Ingles led starting five that was significantly out-played by their counterparts in silver and black.