warriors vs jazz preview
Golden State Warriors (28-19) vs. Utah Jazz (16-29)
Tip-off: Friday, January 31st, 2014 – 7:30PM PST
Location: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
Spread: Golden State (-5) meaning Warriors are 5-point favorites
TV: CSN Bay Area/ESPN | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @samesfandiari)
Last Game / Streak:
UTA – Won 106-99 vs SAC Mon night in Los Angeles, Won 2 straight games
GSW – Won 111-92 vs LAC last night in Oakland, Won 1 straight game
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Andre Iguodala
PF: David Lee
C: Andrew Bogut
Jazz:
PG: Trey Burke
SG: Gordon Hayward
SF: Richard Jefferson
PF: Marvin Williams
C: Derrick Favors
On a night when ex-Jazz great, head coach Jerry Sloan is commemorated for his service to the franchise, the Warriors have an opportunity to build another streak of victories against one of the cellar dwellers of the Western Conference.
Moreover, the Jazz might have as many as four starters out with injuries.
Jazz beatwriter Steve Luhm:
After the team’s morning shootaround, starters Marvin Williams, Derrick Favors, Richard Jefferson and Trey Burke were reported to be struggling with injuries and illness. So was backup point guard John Lucas. Their availability against the Warriors will be a game-time decision, according Jazz spokesman Jonathan Rinehart.
SLCdunk.com went further into commentary:
Tonight is a special game because it’s a return to that dreaded Jazz/Warriors match-up that I’ve never forgotten. The fast, popular Warriors against a slow plodding Jazz. This time around Nelson has been replaced by Mark Jackson; and taking up Sloan’s banner is Tyrone Corbin. It will be a tough matchup because right now four of the five Jazz starters could miss the game, and John Lucas III as well. No Trey Burke, Richard Jefferson, Marvin Williams, or Derrick Favors makes life really hard for Ty to try to avenge his coach on the night the franchise will raise up the #1223 in his honor.
It should be noted that the trades of Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins have the Warriors and Jazz involved in the following draft picks:
The Jazz own the rights to four Warrior draft picks over the next four seasons — thanks to a July trade that sent Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush to Utah, helping Golden State clear the cap space to acquire Andre Iguodala — and almost any Golden State loss would be a chance to improve future draft position (for the Jazz).
By contrast, the Warriors’ vaunted “#FullSquad” looks to pick up where it left off, a very satisfying double-digit dominance of the Los Angeles Clippers. However on a back-to-back, David Lee is likely to require another pain-killing injection in his strained left shoulder.
The big question is whether or not the Dubs will play down to its competition.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
“I wasn’t going to question our energy or drive coming into this, because it was a very big game,” center Andrew Bogut said. “The ones that are a question was Washington (a loss) and at Utah (on Friday).”
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Well, yes, this win does nothing to solve the Warriors’ biggest problem. If anything, it was an illustration of it. They can be fierce against some very good teams, meek against teams that, quite frankly, are inferior.
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The question is whether they can consistently dig up such passion for less imposing opponents.
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“We definitely knew we’d be ready to play,” forward Draymond Green said. “Now it’s a matter of doing that against the Washington Wizards, doing it against the Minnesota Timberwolves, doing it against the Utah Jazz. That’s the growth we need.
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