ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Utah Jazz were 12-3 since the All-Star Break, best in the NBA, and paid a visit to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors. The Jazz were without Alec Burks (shoulder rehab). The Warriors had their full roster and, despite the back-to-back games, head coach Steve Kerr did not intend to rest any of his impact players.
1ST QUARTER: Running Downhill
Perhaps it was because Utah power forward Derrick Favors — who had only taken 9 treys his entire five-year career — hit a three-pointer on the Jazz first possession, but unlike yesterday’s game which was devoid of early theatrics, the Warriors got some momentum early on with a series of sparkling plays.
Draymond Green got Golden State running downhill early, with a steal of Dante Exum‘s entry pass to Favors, resulting in a run of the break by the versatile Warriors power forward, dishing it off the Harrison Barnes for a two-handed run-out slam.
On the next play, Gordon Hayward missed a triple and, on the other end, Stephen Curry lost the ball on a dribble, but Green’s long arms were there to prevent the turnover and he found Justin Holiday in the right corner with the defense dealing with a broken play. Holiday drove hard on the baseline and delivered a spectacular two-hand jam.
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Right after that, Hayward missed again, drawing back-iron on a left elbow jumper. Andrew Bogut swallowed up the defensive rebound, dished it to Green, who went about 80 feet to convert the right-handed layup down the lane, and-one with the foul on Jazz guard Rodney Hood.
Not too long after that, Curry played cat-and-mouse with Exum after Steph passed the ball to Bogut in the high pinch. Curry made an up-cut that Exum bit on, then cut back to the hoop and the Warriors big man delivered a picture-perfect bounce pass. With the 7’1″ Rudy Gobert protecting the rim, Curry went with the reverse off-the-board layup with a low release point. The ball trickled in for an incredibly skillful two points.
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Favors then missed a jumper and Green tapped the offensive rebound out of Gobert’s grasp. On the ensuing Warriors sequence, Curry dissected Utah’s defense from the left side and once they were lulled to sleep, found Holiday in the right corner. The second-year shooting guard did not hesitate and buried the triple.
Leandro Barbosa also made an immediate impact after checking in for Holiday, getting a right-handed layup via the left-handed, left side attack as he got his defender on his heels with a little “hesi” move.
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That put the Warriors up, 16-11, with 3:06 to play in the first frame.
Curry’s shooting woes continued, however. After a 4-for-17 night against the Pelicans twenty-four hours prior, 1-for-9 in that first period, Steph went 1-for-6 in the first stanza tonight, although he felt he was fouled on a layup attempt after stealing the ball from Gobert at the high elbow. Marreese Speights got the putback of Curry’s miss, though.
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But the Jazz kept things close. After Curry missed a right-handed scoop, Utah backup small forward Joe Ingles drilled a step-back trey from the left elbow against Speights, and Steph dribbled down on the last possession and missed a 30-foot pull-up at the horn.
Golden State held a 19-15 advantage heading into the second quarter. Favors led all scorers with 8 points, 4 rebounds, as Gobert also had 4 rebounds. The team rebounding was dead even at 13 apiece.
Holiday led the Warriors with 5 points while Curry only scored 4.
2ND QUARTER: Chef Curry!
Curry played the entire first frame and Shaun Livingston started the second quarter for him.
Barbosa kept up his great play with a reverse layup after changing direction on the left baseline against the taller, less mobile Ingles, to give the Warriors a 26-17 lead with 9:33 to go in the half.
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He would also later drive hard on the left side as he usually does and dish back to Barnes for a triple.
Andre Iguodala then continued his string of games with dunks as he got a touchdown pass from Speights that ended with a two-hand flush. At the TV timeout with 8:24 left, Golden State maintained a 28-21 lead.
But 6’8″ rookie Rodney Hood kept the Jazz in the game, finishing two attacks to the paint, with Iguodala calling timeout, then frustratingly launching the ball off the backboard after the ref blew the whistle, after bringing up the ball to halfcourt with 4:42 to play and the Warriors up just 36-30.
Hood would add a triple, but then Chef Curry got cooking.
After getting iso’ed against Exum on the left elbow, Curry attacked the hoop, got fouled, and while falling down, smoothly scooped the ball off the left side bank for an and-one. He converted the free throw to Oracle’s “MVP!” chants.
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Gobert then lost the ball to Curry, who got fouled to stop the transition, but then Exum lost sight of Steph as Green posted up with the ball down low, and Draymond delivered a pass up top to Curry, who drilled the trey.
Utah head coach Quin Snyder called timeout to stop the chef from brewing up another concoction, with the Warriors up 42-35 with 2:43 to play, but it didn’t help.
Jazz point guard Trey Burke bit on Curry’s up pass fake to Green up top, and as Burke shifted his body over to Green, that left poor Favors with Steph in front of him. Curry splashed the shot from beyond the arc in front of the Jazz power forward, stretching the lead to 47-38 with just under a minute left.
After Favors answered with an interior bucket, Curry got iso’ed again on Favors, this time crossing him over after a up-fake of a shot, then going off the glass. There was plenty of contact as the ball went in, but no whistle, and Curry threw his hands up in the air in disbelief that it wasn’t called an and-one.
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That gave the Warriors a 49-40 lead, which they kept going into the second half.
Curry all of a sudden tallied 15 points on 5-for-11 field, 2-for-4 downtown, although he had just one assist. Hood led the Jazz with 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while Favors had 12 points on 5-for-8 field, and Gobert snagged 6 boards.
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