Utah Jazz: Team wins in San Antonio for first time in 10 years

SAN ANTONIO — Standing in one of the maze of hallways at the AT&T Center here in San Antonio, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan looked over his glasses and smiled after scratching one off his bucket list.

"Well," the Jazz coach said, "it was nice from my standpoint to get a win in this building before I die."

Sloan has Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and a 6-6 Jazz team that's put together consecutive wins for the first time this season to thank for that.

Williams had a 21-point, 10-assist double-double and Boozer an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double to lift Utah over the Spurs 90-83 on Thursday night, giving the Jazz their first win in San Antonio since Feb. 28, 1999 and ending a streak of 20 straight losses — 23 including playoff games — that spans a decade.

The drought included all 13 games the Jazz have had — 16 including postseason play — in the AT&T Center, which replaced the Alamodome as home of the Spurs in 2002.

"We did all the right things down the stretch," Williams said, "which is something we've struggled with in this building.

"We haven't won here in I don't know how many years," he added, "so this was a great win for all of us."

Even if it does come with an asterisk.

The Jazz — playing themselves without ill starting center Mehmet Okur, and with just nine healthy players for a fourth straight game — beat a 4-6 San Antonio team missing injured stars Tony Parker (ankle sprain) and Manu Ginobili (groin strain).

"I still want to beat them when they're not shorthanded," Williams said.

"You always want to play a team at their best," Boozer added.

But after all of what Utah has been through here over the last 10-plus years, a win of any sort would suffice.

From a 33-point loss in November of 2004 to another 33-pointer in April of 2006 to a humbling Western Conference finals-ending loss in May of 2007 that concluded with Williams blasting teammates for planning early vacations, the Jazz really have had their share of heartbreak here.

And it very nearly happened again Thursday, as Utah led by as many as 12 early and by 10 after Williams hit a 3-pointer with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter — only to see San Antonio, with Williams sitting for most of the stretch, tie the game at 60 with 25.1 seconds left in the third.

But Paul Millsap snapped a 63-63 tie early in the fourth with two of his 20 points off the bench, and the Jazz led the rest of the way.

The Spurs did get Utah's advantage down to one at 84-83 after two Tim Duncan free throws with 1:25 remaining, but the Jazz answered 17 seconds later with a pick-and-roll, give-and-go between Williams and Boozer.