NBA: Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors will continue their regular season journey without Klay Thompson. They’ve fared well without the shooter so far. Tonight, they will face the 31-37 Utah Jazz. Although their record shows a terrible season, they’ve been competitive and have won 7 of their last 8. With Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward, this will be a challenge for the Thompson-less Warriors.

Only the Jazz have a better record since the All-Star break and the Jazz beat the Warriors the last time they met, so expect a hard fought game on both ends.

In case you missed the game, here’s our instant recap:

1st Quarter

The Jazz got started with a Derrick Favors three pointer and they had the early lead. It took the Warriors a minute and a half to score their first bucket, but it got them going. The Dubs were quickly up 7-3. Everybody but Bogut was on the board and midway through the quarter, the Warriors were up 14-7. The Jazz then came back to score a few buckets in a row to cut down the lead. Both teams are good defensively, which explains the low scores from both ball clubs. The Warriors picked it up offensively to end the quarter and they found themselves with a 19-11 lead. A Joe Ingles three pointer cut the lead to 19-15 at the end of the first.

2nd Quarter

The second unit came into the game and they were ready to roll. They scored nine points in less than three minutes, but the Jazz had six of their own. The pace was much quicker to start the second, which favors the Dubs. The lead was nine and the Warriors were keeping it safe. Leandro Barbosa and Harrison Barnes were on point tonight and they were scoring against a talented defensive team. This entire quarter they were trading baskets, but the Jazz has some momentum going and the score was 36-30 with a little less than five minutes remaining. The Jazz got it down to one and Oracle was a bit quiet. Most of the starters returned and Steph Curry got going. He scored six straight and the lead was seven again. Curry finished the quarter with another five points and the Warriors led 49-40 at the end of the half.

3rd Quarter

Both teams were a bit slow to start the second half. The Jazz scored four points and the Draymond Green could only hit one of two free throws. Curry was responsible for energizing the arena and this team. Gordon Hayward did the same for his team and both teams were rolling offensively. The Warriors kept bringing up the lead to nine and the Jazz would cut it to 5-6, but the Dubs always responded. The Warriors played well as a cohesive unit and were beating a good Jazz team with a collective team effort. Draymond Green hit eight points in a row and the Warriors extended their lead to 12. The Jazz were resilient and kept knocking down shots, but the Warriors were too much and they led 85-73 at the end of the third.

4th Quarter

The second unit was in there to start the final period and everything looked to be going as planned. However, the Jazz made a little run to give them life. They went on a 8-0 run and the lead was down to six and all of a sudden this was a game. The Warriors have been responding all game long and this wasn’t any different. Andrew Bogut helped the Dubs go on a 6-0 run and the lead was back to double digits. The Warriors were now playing with a comfortable and the clock was their friend. It turned into a bit of a shooting contest and the Warriors were in cruise control.