At 9:05 pm, our complimentary selection is on the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz ''under'' the total. Surely, one of the surprises of the first 40 days of the NBA season has been the lack of success of the San Antonio Spurs. Gregg Popovich''s crew was predicted to be among the NBA''s five best clubs, but has fallen way short of that projection. Newcomers Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess have not paid any real dividends (though fellow newcomers Keith Bogans and DeJuan Blair are playing well). The Spurs have dropped their last two games -- both at home -- to Denver and Boston, and have also already lost twice this season to this Utah Jazz club.

But even though San Antone is not winning a great many of its games, there are signs of home. One silver lining of late is that the Spurs'' defense is starting to get a lot better. After allowing three of their first six foes to shoot 50% (or better), including a 53% effort by these Jazz on November 5, none of the Spurs'' opponents have reached the 50% field goal mark over the last 11 games. Not coincidentally, eight of those 11 games have gone ''under'' the total, including each of the last four. The Spurs have also gone under the total in 72 of 108 games when playing with revenge from a loss as a home favorite. And San Antonio has gone under in 21 of 28 games off 4+ unders. Look for a low-scoring game at the Delta Center tonight. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.