San Antonio Spurs guard Derrick White wasn't surprised at all with how well his teammate Jakob Poeltl played against the Utah Jazz on Friday.

In fact, White said he knew the 24-year-old Austrian slotman was bound for a big game after eating their first meal of the day. Per Spurs reporter RJ Marquez:

The Spurs pounced on the undermanned Jazz, 119-111, at the HP Field House, thanks in large part to Poeltl's brilliance. The 7-foot-1 center posted 19 points on an efficient 9-of-12 shooting from the field, to go along with 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 30 minutes. Derrick White also had himself a game, finishing with a game-high 24 markers.

After a slow start for the Spurs inside the bubble, Poeltl finally brought his A-game for head coach Gregg Popovich. San Antonio will definitely need more games like this from Poeltl since their 7-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge isn't in the bubble due to injury.

Picked ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2016 draft, Poeltl had a hard time adjusting to the NBA when he first entered the league. He had to pay his dues in the G-League before earning some minutes for the defending champions.

Poeltl was considered trade fodder in the Kawhi Leonard deal but has actually emerged into a serviceable player for the Spurs.

He's been averaging 5.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 63 appearances this season. Expect to see those numbers go up if he continues to get more meaningful minutes for coach Pop.

The Spurs (30-38), meanwhile, kept themselves in the running for that eight seed in the West following that important win. They are currently sitting at the 10th spot and are four games behind the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies.