warriors game day (Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instagram account via CSN Bay Area)
ENERGYSOLUTIONS ARENA, SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Following a dominant victory at home against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Golden State Warriors left for Salt Lake City that night and came from behind the night after, thanks to the performances of Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut — David Lee decided to sit out due to his strained shoulder and not wanting to take a fourth anti-inflammatory injection in a row — to defeat the Utah Jazz, who entered the game depleted.
Bogut was a 7-foot point guard at times and Curry lit up EnergySolutions Arena with 8 three-pointers for a season-high 44 points. Draymond Green even added a poster-dunk:
Jump down to more sights and sounds from this game
Jimmy Durkin of the Bay Area News Group with the details:
That win didn’t look like it was coming when the Warriors trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter against Utah, which was without Marvin Williams (Achilles) and Derrick Favors (hip).
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But Curry delivered two 3-pointers — part of an 8-for-13 night from beyond the arc — during the 12-0 run. The Warriors finally grabbed a 79-77 lead on a reverse layup by Bogut with 6:55 left.
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Golden State led by as much as four, but the Jazz came back and retook the lead at 88-87 with 2:18 to play. Curry answered with a high-banking layup to put the Warriors on top with 2:02 left and a Utah turnover led to two Klay Thompson free throws to make it 91-88 with 1:37 to go.
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The teams exchanged a pair of misses, and Utah called timeout with 29.3 seconds to play, but the Jazz committed its 19th turnover of the night when Gordon Hayward lost control of the ball out of bounds. Curry hit a pair of free throws that essentially wrapped up the game.
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
There wasn’t much to like about many of the Warriors’ numbers Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena, but Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut were so good that they overcame the shoddy performance in a 95-90 victory over Utah.
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Curry had 44 points with the help of eight three-pointers, and Bogut added 16 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and two steals for a team that didn’t get much other production. But the Warriors (29-19), who hadn’t won consecutive games since Jan. 5 and 7, happily took the victory – even if it came in an ugly fashion.
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“No doubt about it,” Bogut said. “Just because we beat the Clippers (on Thursday), and it looked great on TV, we don’t get two wins for that. Just because we come into Utah and struggle to beat a team we’re supposed to beat, we don’t get only a half-win for that. Wins in this league are like gold, and you’ve got to cherish them.”
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Playing without David Lee, who sat out the second of back-to-back games with a sprained left shoulder and a sore hip, the Warriors not named Curry or Bogut combined for 35 points on 11-of-51 shooting (21.6 percent). The Warriors’ bench was outscored 48-12 by Utah’s reserves.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
…none of the most likely candidates did. Not Klay Thompson, not Andre Iguodala and not Harrison Barnes, who started in place of Lee. Thompson shot 3-for-20 from the field, Barnes was 2-for-10 and Iguodala was 1-for-6.
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So Curry took it upon himself to carry the team to its second win in two nights. He anchored a second-half rally, scoring 30 points after halftime. He made 14 of 26 shots, including 8 of 13 from 3-point distance.
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But it was the Warriors’ defense that carved out the win at the end, forcing seven fourth-quarter turnovers and holding Utah to 19 points over the quarter.
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The Utah bench outscored the Warriors, 48-12, with Alec Burks and Diante Garrett combining for 39 points to lead the way. The Jazz (16-30) was denied in its attempt to win a third successive game, despite the energy generated during a celebration of former coach Jerry Sloan.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS – GAME PROGRESSION
| #Warriors 23, #UtahJazz 21, end of Q1. | #Warriors 38, #UtahJazz 38, Q2, 3:08. |
| #UtahJazz 48, #Warriors 41, halftime. Steph Curry 14p/3a, Bogut 10p/10r, D.Lee not playing (shoulder/hip). | #UtahJazz 71, #Warriors 66, end of Q3. Stephen Curry 31p/3a, Bogut 12p/14r. |
| #Warriors take 79-77 lead over #UtahJazz thanks to 14-0 run. Stephen Curry 37 pts. | #Warriors 89, #UtahJazz 88, Q4, 1:37. #nailbiter |
| #Warriors 95, #UtahJazz 90, FINAL. Stephen Curry with season-high 44 pts on 8 treys. |
POST-GAME
| #Warriors Mark Jackson says Andrew Bogut should get a hockey assist for his screens for Stephen Curry, postgame at #UtahJazz. (click for audio) | #Warriors’ Bogut: “I’m confident in my passing ability…It’s easy to get assists when Steph’s making threes 2 feet outside the line”, postgame at #UtahJazz (click for audio) |
| Curry saying postgame that his hot shooting “puts confidence in everyone in the locker room.” |
The Warriors next play the Charlotte Bobcats (to be renamed Hornets next season), this Tuesday at 7:30PM at #Roaracle.
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