SLIDESHOW: Utah Jazz vs San Antonio Spurs
SALT LAKE CITY -- Admittedly, Jerry Sloan doesn't usually "get that excited."
Agitated? Yes.
Excited? Maybe not.
But that all changed on Monday as the Jazz held on for a furious 104-101 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at EnergySolutions Arena.
It was Utah's third win over the Spurs this season and the second one at home, which may go a long way in explaining Sloan's initial excitement.
"I'm really excited for our players," the Utah coach said. "I don't get that excited that often, but I was excited for them tonight because I think they needed that."
Coming in on the heels of a disappointing loss to hapless Minnesota over the weekend, the Jazz (12-8) spotted the Spurs a 15-point lead in the second quarter before charging back after halftime.
Utah got 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Carlos Boozer and another 17 points and 11 assists from Deron Williams, whose jumper with 22.1 seconds remaining put the Jazz ahead for good.
Ronnie Brewer added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Mehmet Okur contributed 14 points and nine boards.
Okur's two free throws with 1.5 remaining sealed the win and took Boozer off the hook for a pair of missed freebies just a few seconds earlier.
San Antonio (9-9) got 28 points from reserve Matt Bonner and another 23 from star big man Tim Duncan.
Bonner had the hot hand most of the night, hitting 10 of 14 shots and going 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point line. However, when the big redhead drove the lane and attempted to flip in the potential game-winner with 1.9 remaining, it rimmed out.
In a fairly jovial mood considering he was whistled for a technical foul in the third quarter, Sloan was asked if he held his breath during Bonner's last-second attempt.
"If you hold your breath, you could die," he said with a smile. "I guess that's the way it is."
Sloan certainly wasn't holding his breath with 9:09 left in the third when he picked up a technical foul arguing an out-of-bounds call.
Duncan appeared to knock a lose ball out of bounds, but officials believed Duncan tipped the ball off a Jazz player first.
Regardless, when Sloan picked up the "T," it seemed to ignite something in his players.
They were trailing 61-54 at the time, but outscored the Spurs 32-15 over the remainder of the third quarter.
"It feels good (to beat the Spurs)," Williams said. "It's a team that has pretty much dominated us since I've been here and probably a little bit before I got here. It feels good to beat this team."
The last time a Utah team has taken three in a row from the Spurs? All the way back to the 1997-98 season.
Things might have turned out differently for the Spurs had Bonner not missed his last shot.
Following Boozer's two missed free throws, San Antonio brought the ball down the floor and attempted to set up for a final shot, either from Duncan or Parker. But the Jazz did an excellent job of defending the set-up, leaving Bonner no choice but to drive and lift a runner toward the basket.
"The last play, obviously wasn't to isolate me at half court," he said. "(The Jazz) did a good job on defense and took away our first and second options."
Surprisingly, Monday's contest marked only the second time in 44 contest that both the Jazz and Spurs have scored 100 or more points in the same game.
They will meet again Jan. 20, 2010, in San Antonio.
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