The San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz are heading in different directions on the NBA escalator as they square off on Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City.

The Spurs roar into the Wasatch Valley carrying a league-high 11-game winning streak and on the heels of perhaps their best performance of the season, a 123-85 home victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors in NBA Cup action Friday. Utah, meanwhile, is wallowing in an 11-game losing skid following a 125-118 setback in Houston to the Rockets in an NBA Cup game Friday.

San Antonio scored 18 straight points in the first 4:29 against the Warriors. The Spurs led by 30 points at halftime and 43 in the final minute, with none of their starters playing more than 25 minutes.

"There was a lot of good process and a lot of different aspects," San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said of his team's play. "Some nights you get the results or the outcome that you're looking for, and sometimes you don't, but the process was pretty on point in a lot of aspects, and we had some return on that."

Stephon Castle, who had been suffering through a shooting slump, broke out in a huge way, racking up a season-best 32 points while tying a career-high with five 3-pointers. Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes, Keldon Johnson had 18 points and Harrison Barnes produced 11.

Johnson understands how much Castle means to the Spurs' success on both ends of the floor.

"(Castle) is in the middle of everything -- he's an unbelievable impact player," Johnson said. "He's never blinked at anything we've asked. He's never shown any poor body language. He just attacks everything. And there are times in this league, that is ridiculously difficult."

Into this maelstrom enter the Jazz, who return home looking to find their way back into the win column. Rookie Darryn Peterson scored a career-high 28 points, his fifth consecutive 20-point game, in the loss to Houston. Keyonte George had 27 points and Ace Bailey added 21. That trio finished 11-for-26 on 3-point attempts.

Jaxson Hayes had 12 points and five rebounds in the first half for Utah but missed the second half with a left knee injury. The Jazz are already without star forward Lauri Markkanen, who is out until at least mid-December with a broken right hand suffered last week.

"Another night where the competitiveness continues to shine through," Jazz coach Will Hardy said of his team's play against the Rockets. "Ultimately, for us to get the result that we want, our execution needs to meet the level of our competitiveness. We're competing at a really high level. We are not executing at a high enough level right now.

"This is a high-character group of guys we have in our locker room. I'm really proud of their fight. We'll keep working."

Two of San Antonio's wins during its streak over the past 3 1/2 weeks have come against the Jazz, including a 117-111 victory in overtime on Oct. 28 the last time the teams played in Salt Lake City. Sunday's game concludes the season series between the teams.

--Field Level Media

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