Too bad for the Spurs.

With 1:27 left in Utah's 97-91 win over San Antonio on Monday night, Clark called a technical foul on Udoka as he backpedaled up the floor ahead of the Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko.

It was Udoka's second technical in a span of 37 seconds - meaning automatic ejection - and it helped the Jazz hold off the Spurs.

After the technical, Kyle Korver made a free throw to make it 92-89. The Jazz retained possession and Korver missed a three-pointer, but Matt Harpring's offensive rebound gave Utah another chance.

This time, Korver buried a three-pointer with 48.1 seconds left, meaning the Jazz scored four points during a 39-second possession that ended a Spurs rally.

"I really didn't see it," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. ". . . I really don't know what happened."

Udoka admitted he was talking - but not to Clark - when he was hit with the decisive technical.

"Just talking, just talking to Kirilenko," he said. ". . . No, no, no. Not the ref. But he watched me on the two trips after my first [technical]. I guess he just wanted me out of there because I didn't say anything to the ref, just a little to Kirilenko."

Told of Odoka's account of the incident, Kirilenko laughed and said, "He was talking to me for, like, five minutes. I don't know what he wanted. He kept saying, 'Stop flopping, stop flopping.' But he push me in the back. That was the reason I was flopping. . . .

"I don't like to talk to players, you know? He can talk whatever he wants. He was like, he just keep talking and keep talking. Finally, I guess, the referee doesn't like it."

For the Spurs, the game was the first of nine straight on the road. But Popovich was more encouraged than upset by the defeat, which dropped San Antonio to 11-12 over its last 23 games.

"We got a lot out of it," he said. "Sometimes wins are awful and sometimes losses are good. It's not about that as much as trying to make sure whatever you're doing is making you better."

Said Manu Ginobili, who scored 16 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, "I thought we played pretty well, actually. . . . We turned the ball over way too much. Twenty times against the Jazz is really hard to overcome. But again, we managed to stay in the game and had some opportunities."

luhm@sltrib.com