Victor Wembanyama Scores 36 as Spurs Beat Jazz in OT

Victor Wembanyama carried San Antonio through a messy night in Salt Lake City. He scored 36 points with 14 rebounds, and the Spurs locked down in overtime to beat the short-handed Utah Jazz 117-111 on Wednesday night.

The win is the Spurs' third straight and moves them to 3-2 after a rocky start. More important, it shows they can win a game where they trailed by 11 and the offense went cold late. That is the kind of game good teams find a way to steal in October.

Wemby Kept Them Alive

San Antonio was in trouble early. Utah led by as many as 11 and was up 55-51 at halftime, and Wembanyama had 21 of the Spurs' points in the first half just to keep them close. He finished 14 of 25 from the floor, made 4 of 10 threes and did not commit a single turnover in 39 minutes. He added three steals and two blocks too, so he was everywhere.

Devin Vassell finally gave him help after the break. Vassell scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, and that second option was the difference. De'Aaron Fox added 14.

The Overtime Clampdown

Regulation ended badly for the Spurs. They missed their last four shots, including a Fox jumper at the buzzer, and Brice Sensabaugh and Keyonte George hit back-to-back buckets to erase a 105-100 lead and force overtime.

Sensabaugh opened the extra period with a three to put Utah ahead. Then San Antonio's defense took over. The Spurs answered with a 12-0 run, forced four turnovers and held the Jazz to 2 of 7 shooting in overtime. That is what a defense built around Wembanyama is supposed to look like.

George scored a season-high 31 for Utah but looked gassed by the end, and rookie Darryn Peterson had 18 but sat down the stretch and in overtime. The Jazz (1-4) were missing three big men: Jaren Jackson (torn MCL), Lauri Markkanen (wrist sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (foot).

There is more help on the way, too. Tobias Harris has not played yet this season because of a strained calf, and once he is back, Wembanyama should not have to carry this much of the scoring on nights when the shots are not falling for everyone else.

Smacktok Pick Lean

The Spurs host Minnesota on Saturday. We lean higher on Wembanyama's rebounds. He grabbed 14 on Wednesday, 12 of them on the defensive end, while playing 39 minutes, and San Antonio is leaning on him for heavy minutes on both ends.