Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz – Game #5
Malaki Branham will look to continue his hot shooting ways in Salt Lake City (Photo via X)
The San Antonio Spurs can’t be too thrilled with their 1-3 start to the 2024-2025 NBA season. However, they’ve been better than the 0-4 Utah Jazz, the team they play this evening on the second night of a back-to-back. Last night, the Spurs got steamrolled by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In San Antonio’s loss against OKC, Victor Wembanyama was held to a career-low six points — and he wasn’t the only player on the Spurs who played poorly.
The one team below the Spurs in the Western Conference standings is the Jazz. To make matters worse for team out of Salt Lake City, three of their four losses were at home. Tonight’s game will obviously be a good chance for the Spurs to get their first road win of the season.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
Tre Jones remains out with the Spurs with an ankle sprain. The team’s backup point guard is expected to miss another week of action.
Devin Vassell also remains out but there is some good news on his injury front, as the Spurs recently assigned him to Austin in the G League. That move allows Vassell continue his rehab while practicing with the Austin squad.
All three players on the team who are signed to a two-way contract are currently with the Austin Spurs: Riley Minix, Harrison Ingram, and David Duke, Jr. As such, none of those three players are eligible to play against the Jazz.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
Even though the Spurs have now lost two straight games, it’s likely that head coach Gregg Popovich will keep his starting five tonight. In each of the four games this season, the Silver and Black have started Wembanyama at center, Jeremy Sochan at power forward, Harrison Barnes at small forward, Julian Champagnie at shooting guard and Chris Paul at point guard.
Off the bench, Malaki Branham has become an important player for the Spurs. On the season, he’s averaging 11.0 points per game on 58.6% shooting from the floor, 58.3% shooting from three-point range and a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line. If he stays hot, don’t be surprised if the coaching staff starts leaning on him more and more.
Betting Guide: Spurs at Jazz
The Spurs are favored by one point and the over/under is 221 points. Even though the Spurs are on the second night of a back-to-back, the smart money is on San Antonio to win by two or more points. Wembanyama is due for a breakout game, while Utah’s star Lauri Markkanen is questionable for tonight’s affair with a back injury.