Twelve in a Row on the Line: Wembanyama and the 11-2 Spurs Take Their Win Streak to Utah as Sunday's NBA Slate Tips Off

The hottest team in the NBA takes its winning streak to the mountains on Sunday. The San Antonio Spurs, 11-2 and leading the Western Conference, bring an 11-game winning streak into Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. Eastern.

The two teams are heading in opposite directions. Utah enters at 1-12 and has lost 11 straight, the latest a 125-118 defeat in Houston on Friday night.

Victor Wembanyama has been the engine of San Antonio's run. Pregame previews put his averages at 28.8 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 blocks a game, numbers that show how much he controls both ends of the floor. In two meetings with Utah this season, he has averaged about 24 points and 12.5 rebounds.

The Spurs have already beaten the Jazz twice: 117-111 in overtime on Oct. 28 and 119-97 on Nov. 2. In that second meeting, guard Dylan Harper and Wembanyama led the way as San Antonio stretched what was then a five-game winning streak. The streak has only grown since, with San Antonio's latest win coming in a 123-85 rout of Golden State.

Utah is hurting up front. One preview noted that the Jazz rotation is down four big men, and Jaxson Hayes was listed as a game-time decision with a left knee issue. That is a difficult spot for any team, and a nightmare against a 7-foot-plus star who changes every shot near the rim.

Spurs-Jazz is part of a full Sunday slate, and the injury report is long.

In Phoenix, the Lakers will again be without Austin Reaves, who is out with a left heel contusion and bone bruise, as Los Angeles visits the Suns in the 4 p.m. Eastern game. In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid is out as the 76ers host Indiana.

In Toronto, the Raptors host the New York Knicks at 6 p.m. Eastern still without Kawhi Leonard, who has been sidelined since Oct. 25 with a left knee injury, and Scottie Barnes is listed as questionable.

The evening also brings Dallas at Boston at 6 p.m., Atlanta at Milwaukee at 8 p.m. and Oklahoma City at Sacramento at 9 p.m., all Eastern.

What makes this Spurs run special is not just the numbers. It is the way a young team has learned to win the right way: sharing the ball, defending as a group and refusing to take nights off against teams with losing records. Long winning streaks are rarely ended by great opponents. They usually end on nights like this one, when a heavy favorite shows up flat against a team with nothing to lose.

Utah deserves some grace, too. Rebuilding is hard, and a locker room in the middle of an 11-game slide needs leaders who keep showing up early, keep working and keep competing. A night against the best team in the West is a chance for young players to measure themselves and find out what they are made of.

If San Antonio takes care of business, the Spurs will have 12 straight and keep building one of the most impressive starts the league has seen in years. If the Jazz pull off the upset, it will be the kind of night a struggling team can build a season on. Either way, Wembanyama is must-watch basketball, and Sunday evening in Salt Lake City is one more chance to see why.

The bigger picture matters, too. A month into the season, the Spurs have turned early promise into results, and every win in November is a cushion for the grind of the winter months. Coaches like to say that a streak is not the goal, only the byproduct of doing the little things well every night. San Antonio has done those little things for 11 straight games, and Sunday is another test of whether the habits hold on the road.