San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama marked his return to the starting lineup with 32 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three assists in 27 minutes and 42 seconds. It was Wembanyama’s first start since Nov. 14 against Golden State, when he suffered a strained left calf that led to a 12-game absence.

Utah has beaten two of the top three teams in the NBA on successive nights after knocking off Eastern Conference-leading Detroit 131-129 on Friday.

Walter Clayton Jr. scored 17 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 16 for the Jazz, who have won two straight after four consecutive losses.

Keldon Johnson added 27 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio and Stephon Castle had 20 points.

The Spurs were without De’Aaron Fox, who missed the game with tightness in his left adductor.

Utah took a lead midway through the second quarter and did not relinquish it. The Jazz lead grew to 17 points and it did not dip below 10 points in the third quarter before the Spurs rallied in the fourth.

Wembanyama sprinted down the lane and emphatically threw down a one-handed dunk as the Spurs were rallying from a double-digit deficit early in the fourth quarter. Wembanyama’s subsequent free throw cut Utah’s once-sizeable lead to 104-101 with 8:49 remaining in the game.

The game marked the first consecutive home games for the Spurs in six weeks. San Antonio spent 28 of the previous 34 days on the road, including the semifinals and finals of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas.

San Antonio lost to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup final, but the championship does not count toward the NBA standings or statistics.

JAZZ 131, PISTONS 129

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Keyonte George scored 31 points and hit a floater in the lane with 2.1 seconds remaining as the Utah Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with a 131-129 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.

Cade Cunningham, who had 29 points and 17 assists, missed a contested shot at the buzzer and then had a long conversation with the officials before leaving the court. Cunningham had a personal-best 13 assists in the first half.

Lauri Markkanen scored 30 points and Brice Sensabaugh equaled his season high of 20 points filling in for Ace Bailey, who missed the second half with a hip injury.

Tobias Harris had 16 points for the Pistons, who lost for just the second time in their last nine games despite shooting 52.2% from the field and making 18 of 37 from 3-point range.

George stole a backcourt pass and threw down a breakaway dunk to give the Jazz a 129-125 lead with 1:14 remaining. Caris LaVert blocked George and Cunningham stole the ball. Cunningham’s free throws tied the game at 129-129.

Utah’s largest lead came with 2:34 left in the third quarter, 104-89, after Kevin Love’s three free throws. Love had 11 in the period as the Jazz outscored the usually stingy Pistons 44-35.

Detroit rallied in the fourth quarter but couldn’t stop George on the decisive possession.

The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons have the second-best defensive rating in the league behind Oklahoma City, but they had a difficult time staying with Markkanen and George as they ran off multiple screens.

The Jazz have yielded an average of 134.4 points in their last five games but had a block, three steals and some pressure defense down the stretch to clinch the win.