Spurs take down lowly Jazz to push win streak to four

Following two electric come-from-behind victories, the Spurs rode their momentum into Tuesday night’s NBA Cup showdown against the Jazz, pushing their win streak to four.

Both teams came out firing from the jump. Stephon Castle hit back-to-back threes to put the Spurs on the board, while Keyonte “Key” George answered for Utah. San Antonio ran sets to get open looks at the basket, and Harrison Barnes continued his strong play by finding cutters for easy points. The Jazz did the same, though, as George remained hot by finishing with 15 points in the first quarter alone.

Utah’s torrent shooting continued into the second, but that’s when the gates to Area 51 opened as well. Wemby caught fire from deep and made multiple triples while also putting his off-the-dribble game on display: instead of shooting from the elbow, he drove to the rim and finished with acrobatic layups. Similarly, Castle showed off his strength by muscling his way to the basket before finishing through contact, as he and Wemby combined for 40 points in just the first half.

Of course, what makes the duo so special is their prowess on both ends of the court. With the game coming down to the wire, Wemby and Castle turned up the defensive intensity. Wemby registered multiple blocks and his presence alone deterred Jazz players from challenging him at the rim. Meanwhile, Castle helped slow down Utah’s backcourt and made a crucial contest in the final minute on Colin Sexton.

Yes, the win came against perhaps the worst team in the league, but the performances from the young guns and veterans showed that this roster might be capable of more than we initially thought. The season is still young, but this team appears ahead of schedule.

Game notes

Castle has been getting the most love, and rightfully so, but I’d like to give Julian Champagnie a shoutout too. He finished the game with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals with all of his four field goals coming from deep, and appears to be a burgeoning 3&D wing. I realize that Jeremy Sochan was breaking out prior to getting injured, but I can’t help but wonder if the Spurs should keep Champagnie in the starting lineup and have Sochan come off the bench. If staggered right, the latter can still play close to 30 minutes and could operate as the primary option with the second unit.
More importantly, how would this impact the team long-term? I still think that Sochan can develop into a poor man’s Aaron Gordon, but perhaps a more apt comparison is Bruce Brown. That might not be a sexy name, but Brown is a very valuable role player who’s capable of both starting and coming off the bench as a sixth man, which he did for the championship Nuggets team. If Sochan accepts that role, the Spurs’ starting group could then include Castle, Vassell, Champagnie, Wemby, and the final piece should be a point guard who’s an elite passer and shooter. That lineup has no flaws, and Sochan can play a Brown-esque point-forward role off the bench.
Returning to the present, this Spurs team will be deep when everyone gets healthy. If the coaching staff elects to start CP, Vassell, Barnes, Sochan, and Wemby, then that means the bench would feature Jones, Castle, Keldon, and Champagnie. Minutes will be hard to come by for anyone else.
It’s interesting to see how far ahead the Spurs are in their rebuild when compared to the Jazz, even though both teams started tearing things down around the same time. Of course, much of that has to do with lottery luck, but I do wonder why old mate Danny Ainge didn’t trade Lauri Markkanen this summer when he sold high on Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. Currently, their three best prospects include Mr. Key, a guy best known as JDub’s younger brother, and perhaps the only man to celebrate being drafted by Utah due to some questionable off-court decision-making. On the bright side, they do have a great young coach in Will Hardy, who’s great at constructing counters against opposing teams. Still, the West is loaded enough that it’s nice to have one team who’ll remain bad for a while. So when you’re feeling down, just count your blessings that you’re not a Jazz fan.