Jazz-Spurs tipoff delayed due to a ‘potential security threat’ at the AT&T Center

Tipoff for Monday night’s NBA regular season game between the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs was delayed by 30 minutes due to a ‘potential security threat’ at the AT&T Center in Texas. 

‘Fans coming into the arena say that signs around AT&T Center say “Gates closed” one person was told there was an emergency but no danger. Fans slowly trickling in now,’ tweeted Sarah Todd, of Desert News , based in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

After the issue had been resolved, the Spurs said in a statement: ‘We apologize to all of our fans who experienced delays entering the AT&T Center this evening. 

‘The safety of our guests is always of utmost importance. We’re pleased tonight’s issue has been resolved. Thank you for your patience, we hope you enjoy the game.’

The game eventually got underway and the San Antonio Spurs emerged victorious 

When the game got going, Spurs fended off the Jazz in the final minutes for a 126-122 victory.

The Spurs led 121-110 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. The Jazz scored seven points in 33 seconds, but they could not complete the rally.

Jakob Poeltl added 16 points for San Antonio.

Lauri Markkanen had 32 points and Jordan Clarkson added 25 points for Utah, which had won two straight.

Speaking of the delay, Markkanen said: ‘We were just about to run out of the tunnel to come out for warmups, but they told us to go back to the locker room. 

Lauri Markkanen of the Jazz admitted that the delay had interrupted his preparations to play

‘It´s a weird thing. That’s the first time I´ve experienced that, but I think guys did a great job of just staying locked in and controlling what we can control.’

The Jazz are eighth in the Western Conference NBA standings while the Spurs are 14th out of 15.

The next game for the Jazz is on Wednesday against Golden State Warriors, while the Spurs play Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.