Golden State Warriors vs Utah Jazz - Recap

Andrew Bogut plays defense on Jazz guard Gordon Hayward

Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Warriors-Jazz game at Oracle Arena, a game which the Warriors won 102-88. The Jazz are 1-10 this season, good for last place in the NBA. I expected it to be a blowout, and I wasn’t disappointed, with the Warriors playing beautiful basketball throughout the entire game. The only blemish on the night was the loss of back-up center Jermaine O’Neal, who slipped early in the fourth quarter and had to be helped to the locker room by teammates. Initial reports suggest O’Neal might have sprained his knee and strained his groin, disappointing news for the 18-year NBA veteran who has suffered with numerous injuries throughout his distinguished career.

The game started off in a slow, melancholy fashion. The excitement and energy levels for both teams seemed a little low, a possible side effect of the Jazz coming off a back-to-back at San Antonio the night before. The Warriors are 5-0 at Oracle Arena this season, however, all the teams they’ve played against have been coming off the first game of a back-to-back.

The funniest part of the night was when the Jazz announced their starting five. Are you ready for a laugh? It was Alex Burks, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors, and Richard Jefferson. Ladies and Gentlemen, Richard Jefferson. You’re beginning to see why the Jazz are 1-10 this season. Anyways, Golden State jumped out to an early 27-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Stephen Curry was simply magical. Whether he was weaving in and out of the Jazz defense at will or hitting contested step-back jumpers, nothing could stop him. On the other side of the spectrum, the Jazz were awful; simply pathetic. They didn’t run a single offensive set, it seemed like they were just passing the ball around for a certain amount of time and then just taking a bad shot.

Gordon Hayward, the prized Jazz guard from Butler University, had an awful start to the game, scoring only two points by halftime on two technical free-throws. I couldn’t believe the Jazz’s rotation. Diante Garrett and Rudy Gobert were the first players off the Jazz bench into the game. Who are they? They were simply horrendous, with Garrett air-balling his first two shots and Gobert getting bullied by both O’Neal and Bogut in the post.

Things only got worse for the Jazz in the second quarter, with Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala (the hero from the Thunder game) getting hot from beyond the arc. The finished with a combined 8-13 from deep. The Warriors executed their offense to perfection, with great ball movement and perfectly run fast breaks. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Warriors Australian center, Andrew Bogut. Widely known for the grisly injuries he suffered on the Milwaukee Bucks, Bogut has been unable to stay completely healthy for the Warriors since he arrived. However, he played spectacular defense for Golden State while he was on the court, routinely sending shots by Hayward and Kanter into the fifth row seats. He was also efficient on the offensive end, scoring 12 points on 5-7 shooting and pulling down 11 rebounds.

With a 17-point lead entering the half, the game seemed that it would be a cruise for the remaining half, but Hayward came alive in the third, hitting a couple of his shots and leading the Jazz to a 29-point outburst, six more than the Warriors scored in the third. I felt Golden State played lackluster defense and settled for poor shots, as Curry took a number of threes he probably shouldn’t have (but with Curry you never know). He finished the night 0-5 from beyond the arc, a surprising statistic for the NBA’s best shooter. The Jazz kept their momentum up in the fourth, a result of the O’Neal injury, and were able to trim the lead down to seven, but the Warriors responded, led by Thompson and pulled away by 20 before claiming the victory 102-88.

Golden State travels to Utah on Monday for another match-up with the Jazz. Warrior fans shouldn’t be too concerned because if they play anything close to how they played Saturday night, they should cruise to another easy victory.