Williams scores 21 points, leads Utah to first win in San Antonio since 1999

Jazz get first win in San Antonio since 1999

SAN ANTONIO — Deron Williams scored 21 points and the Utah Jazz ended their decade-long misery in San Antonio with a 90-83 win over the Spurs on Thursday night.

Utah had not won a regular-season game in San Antonio since 1999, a losing streak that spanned 20 games. Paul Millsap added 20 points for the Jazz.

Tim Duncan scored 21 points, and he has seldom seen San Antonio struggle at the start of a season like this. The Spurs revamped their roster this summer, but they are 4-6 and have their first losing record after 10 games since 1996.

Carlos Boozer scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and had 11 rebounds.

Utah won back-to-back games for the first time this season and did it by carrying only nine players for the second consecutive night. The Jazz beat Toronto at home on Wednesday, then flew to the city where they hadn’t won since Karl Malone led Utah to a victory on Feb. 28, 1999.

More than a decade later, Boozer played the foil to San Antonio. He was 4-of-6 from the field in the fourth. His second of two and-ones in the period with 1:08 left put Utah up 87-83 and provided a big two-possession cushion.

Ronnie Brewer added 13 points for the Jazz, which shot 60 percent in the fourth quarter.

The Spurs were also playing their second game in two nights after falling in overtime at Dallas. The Spurs hobbled home Thursday perhaps not weary, but certainly more banged up.

Manu Ginobili, who sprained his left groin against the Mavericks, is now expected to miss at least a week. He sat out along with Tony Parker, who has missed four of five games because of a nagging ankle sprain.

Parker, San Antonio’s third-leading scorer, remains day-to-day. The All-Star point guard originally hurt the ankle Nov. 6, then re-aggraved the sprain Saturday in a loss to Oklahoma City.

George Hill, starting in place of Parker, had 18 points but on 7-of-17 shooting. Richard Jefferson added 16 points.

The Spurs have lost three straight.

After spending big dollars to bring in Jefferson and Antonio McDyess this summer, the sputtering start isn’t what the Spurs had in mind. But coach Gregg Popovich appeared decidedly unflustered before the game, confident that players on his overhauled roster are simply still getting acclimated to each other.

“New people are learning a little more all the time,” Popovich said. “We just have to stay the course.”

Roger Mason had 12 points for the Spurs.

NOTES: Jazz G Ronnie Price will not need surgery on his injured left toe, the team announced before the game. Price has undergone two MRIs since spraining his big toe Nov. 9 in a win against the Knicks. … Utah C Mehmet Okur didn’t make the trip, staying home because of flulike symptoms.