Short-Handed Jazz Face a Spurs Team Built Around Wembanyama

By NBA Stat Desk How we produce articles

Utah's thin frontcourt looks like a tough fit against a surging Victor Wembanyama.

UTA @ SAS Nov 3, 2026 at 1:30 AM UTC

Utah arrives in San Antonio with its frontcourt in rough shape. Jaren Jackson Jr. is out with a torn right MCL and has only just begun a recovery expected to last six weeks or more. Jusuf Nurkic is still sidelined with the foot injury he suffered in preseason. That leaves the Jazz thin on size and rebounding against a Spurs team with a dominant interior star.

The bigger swing factor is Lauri Markkanen, who is listed as questionable with a right wrist sprain. He missed the earlier meeting with San Antonio, and his status is unclear again. If he can't go, Utah loses a major source of shooting and spacing, and its offense would likely depend on a few players creating without much floor balance. Even if he does play, the Jazz are short on the depth needed to cover the other absences. They are also on a three-game losing streak and trying to avoid a fourth straight defeat.

San Antonio, meanwhile, has recovered from an 0-2 start. The Spurs beat Dallas, Sacramento and Utah in that stretch, with the Oct. 28 win over the Jazz part of it. Victor Wembanyama has since scored a season-high 43 points on a career-high 34 shots in a 121-111 win over Minnesota. That volume suggests the Spurs will keep feeding him, and Utah has few frontcourt answers for that kind of workload.

The Jazz can stay in the game if Markkanen plays and Utah's perimeter shooters get hot. But with so many bigs missing, San Antonio should control the paint, win the possession battle and pull away late. I expect the Spurs to win comfortably, 119-107.

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