Festive celebrations have ended. The San Antonio Spurs had a merry Christmas with their third-straight win over the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder whereas extending their 8-game profitable streak. They’ll look to keep away from a vacation hangover in opposition to the Utah Jazz again dwelling in San Antonio on Saturday night time.
The Jazz are a scrappy younger crew that may beat unsuspecting groups on any given night time. Working example, Utah defeated the Jap Convention’s greatest, the Detroit Pistons, on Friday night time, 131-129. They’ve legit high-end gamers like Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George, each of whom dropped 30 in opposition to Detroit final night time. An off night time for the Spurs might snap their profitable streak.
San Antonio had some current shaky performances in opposition to groups with shedding information, together with their most up-to-date win in opposition to the Washington Wizards. They’ll must make the most of their dwelling crowd and their relaxation benefit, because the Jazz can be on the second sport of a back-to-back. The Spurs could also be down a key contributor, as De’Aaron Fox is listed as questionable with left adductor tightness. They’ll must lean on their depth to take down a assured Jazz squad.
December 27, 2025 | 7 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel Southwest | Hear: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Accidents: Stanley Umude – Out (G League), David Jones-Garcia – Questionable (G League), Harrison Ingram – Out (G League), De’Aaron Fox – Questionable (thigh)
Jazz Accidents: Don’t must report till 1 pm CT
Utah performs a fast-paced fashion with its group of younger guards, highlighted by George and Isaiah Collier, and house the ground with bigs like Markkanen and Kyle Filipowski. They’re fifth within the NBA in tempo of play, and rating the seventh most factors within the league. Nevertheless, their protection is the worst within the NBA. San Antonio’s offense ought to proceed to thrive in opposition to the porous Jazz protection, however they’ll must lock in defensively as they did in opposition to OKC in the event that they wish to keep away from a shootout.
It’s no assure that Fox sits, however given his sudden addition to the damage report, it wouldn’t be a shock that he misses the sport. Previously, the Spurs have moved Stephon Citadel to the lead guard place and added Julian Champagnie to the beginning lineup. However with Dylan Harper enjoying so properly lately, and Champagnie struggling to shoot the ball properly, it might make sense to offer the rookie his first NBA begin. That may make it tougher for the Spurs to stagger the guards like they’ve had success with this season, however it could give them extra offensive firepower to start out the sport. Even when he doesn’t begin, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Harper take over Fox’s major playmaking position on the finish of the sport.
The Jazz typically play two bigs collectively. Markkanen, Filipowski, and Jusuf Nurkic share the court docket rather a lot and trigger issues for smaller groups within the paint. Utah is sixth in whole rebounds and seventh in offensive rebounds. San Antonio might make use of the “French Vanilla” duo of Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet to match up with the Jazz’s dimension. The duo has logged 46 minutes collectively this season with a +4.1 internet ranking in that point. They’ll be capable of shield the rim and rebound at a excessive charge with these two within the sport. Now that Wembanyama is enjoying extra minutes (he logged 26 in opposition to the Thunder on Christmas), we must always begin to see a bit extra of him and Kornet collectively.
