| Rudy Gay (29 points) scorched the Jazz out of the playoffs |
The Spurs shot 51%, breaking even with the Jazz down low, winning the fast break battle, and dominating with their bench. The team had 7 blocks and 16 steals, watching the Jazz commit 19 turnovers. Rudy Gay was the man of the hour, scoring 29 points on 11-16 shooting, with 2 steals and a block as well.
Mario Hezonja had 14 points once again showing confidence, despite tweaking his ankle late. Reports indicate he may just miss a single game, or may be good to go as the Spurs benefit from rest days due to winning this series early. Kawhi Leonard had 13 points, but Coach Popovich wisely rested his stars before and definitely after Hezonja's injury scare. Patty Mills hit a clutch three-pointer to ice that huge lead for the Spurs. Pau Gasol had 12 points as did Mills; Tony Parker hit two bombs from long range for 11 points.
But the other story of the night was Bismack Biyombo's terrific 17 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Iman Shumpert had 13 points, outscoring his nemesis Donovan Mitchell, who couldn't get into a rhythm all night long. Ricky Rubio had just 8 points and 8 assists, sporting a face mask, losing the ball six times to make matters worse. Rudy Gobert had just 8 rebounds and 2 points; Favors had 7 rebounds with 11 points, the high number in scoring for any Jazz player in this beat-down.
Moving forward, the Spurs look most likely to face the Rockets next in the semi-finals, as they hold a 3-2 lead over the Clippers. The Golden State Warriors lead 3-1 over the Trailblazers; and the Cavaliers have a 3-2 lead over the gutsy Pacers. The Thunder look ready to close out the Pelicans as well. As the playoffs continue, it looks like Warriors/Thunder and Rockets/Spurs and probably Bucks/Cavaliers and 76ers/Raptors out east.