Millsap's strong game overshadowed by loss

Paul Millsap could see only turnovers and a loss.

The 20 points, strong shooting, 14 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots were a distant memory as he sat in the Utah Jazz locker room at Salt Lake Community College Monday night following a 75-71 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on the third night of Rocky Mountain Revue play.

"We lost the game. That kind of killed all the stats," said the Jazz's second-year player who made such a big impression in his rookie season with a team that won two playoff series.

"It's good to have stats like that. It's good to win, too, so once we win games and I have stats like that, I'll look back and say I done a good job. But you know I turned the ball over six times, and that was a big key to our loss.

"Without the turnovers, it would have been a perfect night with a 'W.'"

Utah's 23 turnovers to just 11 for the Spurs, who got their first win of the Revue and left the Jazz 1-2.

It was one of just a few statistical categories San Antonio won, besides the final score.

Utah beat them on points in the paint 42-16, second-chance points 21-8, fast-break points 14-6, rebounds 44-22, assists 10-9, shooting percentage 41-37.

But the turnovers led to 25 Spurs points, and Millsap had two in the final two minutes.

The first of those came with him having just tied the game at 66 with a runner in the lane and the Jazz having a chance to take the lead when, near the top of the key, a San Antonian slapped the ball out of Millsap's hands, and the Spurs got a basket from Pooh Jeter (16 points), who scored again on the Spurs' next possession for a three-point lead.

A Morris Almond pass to Millsap got away out of bounds, and the Spurs pulled ahead by five.

When the ball was slapped from Millsap's grasp, his hand was whacked and bothered him the rest of the game. "It's real sore right now, got a little swelling in it," he said in the locker room. "I'm going to ice it. There's no excuses. You turn the ball over, you just turn it over. That's what loses games.

"I've got to try to make plays without turning the ball over. Once I do that, my goal will be accomplished for being here at the Revue. I've still got a lot to work on."