Spurs pull away from Jazz, 96-89 in Utah.

Donovan Mitchell, rookie sensation, will still be on SportsCenter tonight for making some impressive plays, but the Spurs were too heavy here, despite a well-played competitive contest. Both teams shot around 43% and shot 35% from 3PT range, with Utah narrowly claiming the victory in rebounds. The Spurs defense was a notch more ahead here, scoring more as well as a cohesive unit on the court.

With six 3PTers, Patty Mills led the Spurs past their Salt Lake City rivals for 22 points. Pau Gasol had 20 points, but Kawhi Leonard nearly had a triple-double with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals. Iman Shumpert came alive briefly for 13 points.

In the loss, Rudy Gobert played strong for 20 points and 10 rebounds, but Ricky Rubio had just 6 assists with 7 points on 3-18 shooting performance, including 0-6 from long range, as the Spurs hounded his passing lanes. Thabo Sefolosha had 15 points behind Gobert, with Jae Crowder's 14 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Favors had 8 points with 7 rebounds and Donovan Mitchell finished with only 13 points, pestered by Kawhi Leonard and Shumpert all game long.