SALT LAKE CITY -- Two of the best defensive teams in the NBA met Thursday, and despite an inspired effort by the Utah Jazz, the San Antonio Spurs emerged with a 96-78 win.

Forward Kawhi Leonard poured in 29 points to lead San Antonio to victory.

The Spurs (49-9) tightened their hold on second place in the Western Conference due in large part to their defensive prowess.

"It's the best game since we came back from (the All-Star) break," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "What really helped us, they're so good at execution, it actually helped us tonight, because they use the whole clock and we had to play (defense) over and over. We got better and better defensively because we had to guard their execution, which is excellent.

"(Utah coach Quin Snyder has) done a great job in getting those guys to understand ... to set up, to take good shots. They're tough, there's no surprise that they win games."

Coming into the game, the Spurs were the No. 1 team in the league in defensive efficiency, only giving up 95.8 points per 100 possessions. However, in February, the Spurs' defensive tenacity slipped, putting them in fifth place in the league for the month with a defensive rating of 100.5 points per 100 possessions.

The Jazz, healthy again after long stints of missing power forward Derrick Favors and center Rudy Gobert, key players on the defensive end, came into Thursday ranked ninth in the league during February in defensive efficiency, allowing 101.8 points 100 possessions.

Solid defense helped Utah jump out to a 23-18 lead after the first quarter. San Antonio started the night looking very much the part of a tired team after Popovich chose not to rest any players in the second game of a back-to-back.

The Spurs tightened up their execution to gain a 39-35 edge heading into halftime.

"We were mud in the first half, we didn't move the ball, there wasn't much motion, we just played poorly," Popovich said.

When asked what adjustments San Antonio made in halftime to move the ball more effectively (they only had four assists after two quarters), Popovich said, "There's no time to practice at halftime, so we just keep playing. I mentioned (assists), and we talked about it."

Leonard added his thoughts as well, saying that San Antonio had to focus on making its shots and improving its defensive intensity in order to get the ball moving well on the offensive end of the floor.

Favors tried to bring the Jazz back by himself in the third quarter, scoring seemingly at will as he tried to keep Utah in the game. However, the Spurs made the requisite halftime adjustments to counter Utah's tenacious first-half effort, and the visitors took a 56-49 lead with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

San Antonio didn't look back after that.

"It seemed like every time we'd make a big shot, they would make a run right back at us," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said.

The Spurs finished with four players in double figures, including forward Tim Duncan, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Jazz (28-29) saw minimal input from players other than Favors, who scored 25 points.

"I want to be aggressive and take my shots and really try and make something happen," Favors said.

Utah guard Rodney Hood had 12 points, and Hayward finished with 11. In particular, Hayward struggled against the tough defense of Leonard, hitting just four of 13 shots from the floor

"He's really good on the ball," Hayward said of Leonard. "It's hard to tell if he's going to play you from behind or if they switch."

Leonard said playing Hayward is challenging as well.

"It's just a different game plan when you're playing Utah," Leonard said. "All I could do is go into the game and try to make (Hayward) feel uncomfortable and hope he misses."

NOTES: With their loss, the Jazz fell a half-game behind the Houston Rockets in the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. ... PG Shelvin Mack made his second start with the Jazz after being acquired via a trade between Utah and the Atlanta Hawks. He scored eight points in 28 minutes. ... Spurs PG Tony Parker is averaging a career-low 26.9 minutes per game this season, but he played 30 minutes in San Antonio's Wednesday night win in Sacramento and 31 on Thursday at Utah. ... Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised Jazz coach Quin Snyder before the game, calling him a "basketball philosopher of sorts."