Utah Jazz guard Patty Mills has given his old coach Gregg Popovich a Halloween night fright but it was Victor Wembanyama who had the last laugh with a rare 5x5 in San Antonio's 106-88 NBA win.

Mills entered Thursday night's (Friday AEDT) game with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and with scores level at 17-17.

The Boomers veteran, who spent 10 seasons under Popovich at the Spurs between 2011-2021, had been struggling in his first season at Utah, averaging less than two points per game.

But Mills was unstoppable early against his former side, hitting three triples in a magical 53-second burst to give the Jazz a 30-19 lead at quarter time.

Popovich, who described Mills as a "special guy" before the match, sat expressionless after the 36-year-old had nailed his third straight triple.

But Mills couldn't add to his points tally after that, with Wembanyama (25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and five steals) posting a rare 5x5 to lead San Antonio to an easy victory.

A WEMBY-LIKE STAT LINE ðŸ'½

25 PTS

9 REB

7 AST

5 BLK

5 STL

4 3PM@wemby is just the 3rd player to record multiple '5 x 5' games in their career (since steals and blocks were recorded in 1973-74)! pic.twitter.com/5CUmrlnXfe

— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2024

It was the second time 20-year-old Wembanyama had accomplished the feat, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (six times) and Andrei Kirilenko (three times) as the only NBA players to do it more than once.

Chris Paul (19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and two steals) also starred for the Spurs (2-3), while Keldon Johnson (13 points), Jeremy Sochan (11 points) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (10) all hit double figures.

For Utah (0-5), Collin Sexton top-scored with 16 points, while Keyonte George scored 15 and John Collins added 14 points and 11 boards.

Mills finished with 9 points on 3-7 shooting, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal.

Justin Chadwick - AAP