The Golden State Warriors finished their four-game road trip on Wednesday night, and they did it in decisive fashion, cruising past the Utah Jazz 140-124. Since Jimmy Butler III’s season-ending ACL injury,
the Warriors have known that they’ll need to win with depth and teamwork in the absence of star power (barring the quickly-gaining-attention-on-the-rumor-mill acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo ).
And that’s exactly what they did, with a staggering eight different players scoring in double figures (plus a ninth who totaled nine points). And that isn’t just because the Warriors got to garbage time and emptied the bench; no, it was a balanced attack through and through.
It didn’t look good in the opening minutes, though. The Warriors were once again quite sloppy to open the game, and Utah’s advantage in both size and athleticism was on full display, with the Jazz getting easy buckets while the Warriors failed to put the ball through the net. But then Golden State tightened up their defense, and greatly upped their activity. With that, they got on a roll, and took a 16-10 lead, and then 21-13. The sloppiness remained — particularly from Steph Curry — but they were outhustling a much-younger Utah team, and pushed the lead to double digits. They entered the second quarter looking good, holding the momentum, and nursing a 34-24 lead.
That momentum took off to start the next quarter, with Buddy Hield draining threes on back-to-back possessions, while the Warriors fully locked in defensively. That defensive effort didn’t wane, and neither did Hield’s contributions, as he had 11 points in the first few minutes of the quarter, as the Dubs threatened to turn the lead into a blowout.
Utah wasn’t hearing it, though. Between some red-hot shooting from the perimeter and a gift from the Warriors — more sloppiness — the Jazz rattled off 10 consecutive points to get right back into the game, and make it a six-point deficit. The Warriors didn’t hit the panic button, though, and even with Curry on the sidelines, they answered Utah’s run, using a flurry of three-pointers to combat the larger, more athletic team. Brandin Podziemski put the cherry on the sundae with an ultra-crafty bucket with just 0.9 seconds remaining, sending the Warriors to the visitor’s locker room with a 68-55 advantage.
There’s always the threat of losing energy and momentum in the second half, especially on the road, but the Warriors had no such plans. They came out of the third-quarter gates full of energy and vigor, and spent the first few minutes keeping Utah at bay. Then they turned on the turbos, with some simply gorgeous basketball. The ball was flying around the court on offense, and the bodies were flying around the court on defense, and with just over five minutes remaining the Warriors had pushed the lead to 20.
But Utah once again had a response in them, and came roaring back into it. The Jazz pushed the ball up the court and pulled within 10 points with a minute remaining, threatening to turn the game into a close one. Disaster struck in the final seconds when the Warriors, still holding that 10-point lead, had the ball with the shot clock off, and a chance to add to the advantage. Instead, De’Anthony Melton turned the ball over with just three seconds remaining, which was enough time for Isaiah Collier to go coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating layup. It was just a 101-93 game entering the final frame.
Golden State once again answered with poise, showing they had no fear of blowing the lead. The Warriors forced a turnover on the Jazz’s first possession of the quarter and, on their own possession, found Will Richard for a three. After getting a stop on Utah’s ensuing possession, Moses Moody drained a three, flipping the momentum and giving the Dubs full control of the game once again.
It wouldn’t turn into a blowout just then. Utah kept fighting back, but every time they pulled within 9-10 points, Curry would respond with a superstar answering, and Golden State would remain in control. Finally, about halfway through the last quarter, the Warriors took over for the final time. The Jazz had cut the deficit to nine points, and then Golden State decided it was time to dominate. They pushed the ball in transition, controlled the glass, locked up on D, and drained three after three. The result? A 20-2 run that began with a semi-close game, and ended with both teams’ subs in. From there, it was just a matter of letting the benches argue over the final score.
