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Jazz rally past Spurs 101-99 for a dramatic 10th straight win

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Royce O'Neale (23) shoots over San Antonio Spurs center Joffrey Lauvergne (77), in NBA action Utah Jazz vs San Antonio Spurs in Salt Lake City, Monday, February 12, 2018.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Royce O'Neale (23) shoots over San Antonio Spurs center Joffrey Lauvergne (77), in NBA action Utah Jazz vs San Antonio Spurs in Salt Lake City, Monday, February 12, 2018.

Donovan Mitchell turned around at his locker, looking for his hooded sweatshirt after his Utah Jazz rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-99 on Monday night.

He could barely accomplish that. Fatigued, he grabbed the hoodie and gingerly put it on. Then, he realized he hadn’t put on his shoes. They were about a foot away from him. But they may as well have been a mile away.

“I might sleep all day tomorrow,” Mitchell said.

The Utah Jazz had no business beating the Spurs in front of a sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Not when Spurs guard Bryn Forbes hit a jumper from 19 feet to give San Antonio an 83-70 lead with 9:29 remaining.

For reference, when the Spurs lead a team by 13 or more points in the fourth quarter under coach Gregg Popovich, they were 775-3, coming into Monday night.

They are now 775-4.

“Guys were making extra effort plays,” Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. “Guys were digging in deep defensively, and making shots on the offensive end. We were resilient tonight.”

On a night when the Jazz had every reason to pack it in, they instead extended their winning streak to 10 games. On a night when the Jazz were clearly feeling the effects of playing on the second night of a back-to-back, they found enough energy to get back into the game, and their crowd became as loud as it has been all season.

Once they got within reach and sensed the opportunity to win, Mitchell took over. The star rookie scored eight points in the final 2:54 of what became a see-saw battle. He got to the basket, got fouled and made free throws. With his team down 97-96 with 1:27 remaining, he stripped Spurs guard Kyle Anderson and scored an uncontested layup.

With the Jazz down 99-98, Mitchell pulled up and hit a jumper with 39.2 seconds remaining. Finally, he knocked down a foul shot to provide the final margin. If you look at the stat sheet, Mitchell struggled. Overall, he was just 9 of 28 from the field. But, even when he was missing shots, Jazz veteran Joe Ingles took Mitchell aside and gave him a stern message.

Keep shooting the basketball.

“I was getting down on myself for awhile,” Mitchell said. “But Joe gave me confidence to keep going, and that was big.”

Mitchell and Favors kept the Jazz competitive. Favors scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Ingles was huge in the fourth quarter, running the pick-and-roll with Favors. He ended up with 20 points, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. He also made a huge 3-pointer to draw the Jazz within 87-84.

And rookie Royce O’Neale made two huge defensive plays down the stretch, stopping Manu Ginobili and Anderson in isolation situations, preserving the victory.

“This is one of those games you are fortunate to win,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “You have to catch some breaks and I think we just continued to compete. That’s all it literally comes down to. When you do that, you put yourself in position to catch a break. That happened tonight, and we had some guys who made some good plays.”

With the win, the Jazz move to 29-28 on the season, the first time since early December they’ve been over the .500 mark. Their current win streak is the longest since 2009. They remain in the 10th spot of the Western Conference. But they are a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers and a game-and-a-half behind the New Orleans Pelicans.

Pau Gasol led the Spurs with 15 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. San Antonio put six players in double-figures.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” Gasol said. “We were in the lead for most of the second half. We just couldn’t finish it. We had some bad possessions offensively that led to opportunities for them. We have to give them credit. They dug and found some energy after playing last night.”