SAN ANTONIO — The defending NBA champions do not have anybody ranked among the top 50 scorers this season.
But the San Antonio Spurs have several players who are capable enough. On Sunday, center Tiago Splitter became the 12th Spur to lead the team in scoring, producing 14 points during a 89-69 victory over the Utah Jazz.
The Spurs (26-16) have won eight straight games against Utah (14-27) in San Antonio, last losing to the Jazz here in January, 2010.
Guard Danny Green scored 13 for the Spurs, all in the fourth quarter, when he made three 3-point baskets. Forward Kawhi Leonard, the team leader with 15.4 points a game before Sunday, had 12 points and nine rebounds. Backup center Aron Baynes contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Reserve center Rudy Gobert led Utah with 13 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and four blocks. Forward Gordon Hayward scored 10.
Spurs guard Patty Mills missed the first 31 games this season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He returned Dec. 26 and missed 12 of 13 3-point shots in his first three games.
But Mills soon heated up, befitting a guy who received a three-year, $10 million contract during the offseason to provide offense as a reserve. Mills has converted 18 of 37 in his next eight games.
Mills made a pair of treys in the first quarter, helping the Spurs create some distance on their way to a 43-27 halftime lead.
Leonard did the most damage to Utah, though, finishing the half with 10 points and eight rebounds. He made perimeter shots on consecutive possessions, one of them a 3-pointer after grabbing an offensive rebound. He turned another offensive rebound into a twisting jump shot from the baseline that barely beat the halftime buzzer.
Some of the Spurs know that they might play significant minutes in some games and perhaps none in others.
Here’s how the Spurs work: reserve point guard Cory Joseph played five mop-up minutes during a rout of Portland on Friday after logging between 24 and 38 in his previous 11 games, in part because of injuries to other Spurs. He started the 14 games that Tony Parker missed.
During a recent victory against Phoenix, forward Matt Bonner made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after not playing at all in the previous three. After that game, Bonner said coach Gregg Popovich expects his players to be ready regardless of how much they might play.
Sure enough, Joseph played 19 minutes against Utah, making a couple of assists in the third quarter that helped the Spurs made a rout of the game.
NOTES: The San Antonio Spurs signed F JaMychal Green to a 10-day contract on Sunday. The 6-foot-8 Green was averaging 23 points and 10.9 rebounds a game for the Spurs NBA D-League team in Austin, Texas. To make room for Green on their 15-man roster, the Spurs waived F Austin Daye. … Spurs F Tim Duncan and G Tony Parker won their 657th game together against Portland on Friday, passing Boston’s Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for second place on the NBA all-time list. Utah’s Karl Malone and John Stockton are far ahead with 906. … Reserve G Marco Belinelli sat out for the fifth straight game with a strained groin. … The Utah Jazz do not rank highly in most NBA offensive stats, but they are ninth in offensive rebounds and seventh in second-chance points with 14.8 a game, thanks, primarily to their young big men — C Enes Kanter, F Derrick Favors and C Rudy Gobert. … Utah has signed G Elliot Williams to a second 10-day contract. He appeared in three games during the first one.