Spurs' projected starters vs. Utah Jazz with De'Aaron Fox out

De'Aaron Fox has been ruled out for tonight's matchup with Utah with left adductor tightness, according to the Spurs. The lightning-quick Fox missed the first eight games of the season but has been in the lineup for 22 straight since his 2025-26 debut in early November. The Silver and Black have been on a major roll lately, and they'll attempt to keep it going without one of their most explosive weapons.

With De'Aaron out, I expect Mitch Johnson to start with Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, and Luke Kornet. We still don't know when the team will lift Victor Wembanyama's minute restrictions, but it's hard to believe they'll do it while in the middle of an extended stretch of games being played every other night.

San Antonio won't get two consecutive days off until after an early January back-to-back on the second and third. Maybe that's when they'll fully unleash Wemby. For now, Kornet has been holding it down just fine, and we can expect Champagnie to do the same.

Spurs should easily beat Jazz

Jules has started in 17 games for the Silver and Black this season. They're 12-5 when he rolls with the opening unit. Three of those losses were without either member of Area 51. Now, frankly, I think they could beat Utah without Castle and Wembanyama if they were called on to do so. That's just not a good team. Unfortunately for them, Vic and Steph will both be ready to roll.

The Jazz are coming off a big win against the Detroit Pistons, but the Spurs should have a massive advantage against a team with an 11-19 record. It's the NBA, so you can't necessarily sleep on anyone, but they haven't done that thus far. In fact, they've beaten every team they've gone against with a record below .500 at the time the game was played.

It's been the not-so-secret sauce to their season. The squads truly regarded in the upper echelon almost always beat the teams they're supposed to. That's more important than ever before, with so many good teams vying for the top seeds in the Western Conference.

The Jazz are just the next ones in line, preparing to get knocked off. The Spurs won the season series 3-1 over Utah last year. Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George are real threats on that side, but San Antonio is the much better team. As long as they keep some rando from having a career night against them, they should be fine.

5:29 PM Update: Wembanyama will start

Of course, when I bob, San Antonio weaves. According to Mitch Johnson, Victor Wembanyama will be reinserted into the starting lineup tonight against the Utah Jazz. This is one of those "happy to be wrong" situations. Spurs Nation will be thrilled to have the Alien back with the starters.