The Utah Jazz haven't had too much to smile about lately with Russian superstar Andrei Kirilenko's injury sending them into a major tailspin but Mehmet Okur of Turkey gave them a brief respite from the agony.

Okur scored 23 points, including a game-winning follow shot as time expired, as the Jazz snapped an 18-game losing skid to the Spurs with a 97-96 victory.

Utah also ended a nine-game slide, their longest losing streak since the 1981-82 season.

"That was a huge game for us, a great game, especially against a team like San Antonio," Okur said. "It's what we needed."

The Jazz last beat the Spurs on February 6, 2000. Despite battling with an injury-depleted lineup - they were without Kirilenko, Matt Harpring and Raja Bell - they looked like they would fall short again in this one.

Tim Duncan followed his own blocked shot for a lay-up to give the Spurs a 96-95 lead with 47 seconds remaining. After the teams traded misses, Utah called a timeout with 7.4 seconds to play.

Keith McLeod, who played a strong game at point guard, drove on French international point guard Tony Parker. He missed a leaner in the lane that Okur followed and put in as time ran out.

"After I missed the shot, I was still looking, and I saw Mehmet come out of nowhere and grab it and put it back in," McLeod said. "It was great. I might take him out to a Turkish restaurant tonight if we can find one."

"I had seven offensive rebounds tonight, so I was going up for every ball. I just want to always be there," Okur said. "I tried to create second shots for my team-mates, and tonight, I was there at the end."

Okur, who helped Detroit win the NBA title last season before joining the Jazz in the summer, was the spark in Utah's 44-12 advantage in bench scoring and also pulled down 11 rebounds. McLeod also came up big, scoring 18 points with four assists and just one turnover.

Duncan had 24 points and 13 rebounds but had to work for everything he got, shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line. Parker scored 20 points for the Spurs.