The Golden State Warriors have clinched their eighth straight home win. In the 129:118 against the Utah Jazz, the guests from the salt lake have no answer to the Splash Brothers’ hot shooting. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson run hot, especially in the second half.
Golden State Warriors (10-10) – Utah Jazz (12-9) 129:118 (BOXSCORE)
Thompson’s 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter was just the right answer to a run by the Jazz that had put the visitors ahead just moments before. After that, the Splash Brothers didn’t let anything burn. Thompson sank 6/12 threes (plus 6 rebounds) Curry was in no way inferior. He had 33 points on 6/13 from long range (plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 5 turnovers).
Andrew Wiggins added 20 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while Jordan Poole had 19 and 6 assists from the bench. As a team, Golden State sunk 20/45 threes (44.4 percent), giving the home side a significant advantage over Utah (11/45, 24.4 percent). But the Warriors were also always dangerous in the zone (60:60 points in the paint).
On the Jazz side, Lauri Markkanen (24, 5/11 threes), Kelly Olynyk (21) and Jordan Clarkson (21, 10 assists, but 0/7 threes) were the most successful point collectors. But that wasn’t enough against the red-hot Splash Brothers.
The start of the game clearly belonged to the Warriors. Wiggins continued scoring where he left off against the Clippers, and Curry was apparently grateful to be back on the court after the short Thanksgiving break. Not only did his threes fall, after a great cut into the zone he also layed up to +13 in the middle of the section. He and Poole later increased the Warriors lead to 17 points. It was 37:23 in the second quarter.
Warriors win thanks to red-hot Splash Brothers
The hot curry was juxtaposed with completely cold jazz. The guests only hit 2 threes in the first quarter, although they shot hard (15 attempts, 13.3 percent). The shooting didn’t really get any better in the second round either, but the guests now radiated more danger in the zone and the Warriors became careless (8 TO in the second quarter). Utah slowly crept back in, 59-51 for Golden State.
In the dressing room, the Jazz helped a good sip of target water that a few threes fell in the third quarter. The guests even turned the game around briefly before Thompson gave the dubs some air again with two triples in a row. After a mixed start, the Splash Brother was now on fire and had his fingers on the trigger at all times – 12 Klay points in the last three and a half minutes of the third quarter to the 97:86 lead of the Warriors.
When Curry returned to the floor after a short breather, the head chef took over the hot hands of his backcourt colleague. And when, after two triples in a row, his next attempt only landed on the ring – Thompson was there with the offensive rebound and the next three. The Jazz went down in this firework (-16).
Another recipe for success for the Warriors offense: good attacks against the Big Men of Jazz, which were apparently identified as a weak point in Jazz’s defense. When Utah showed the beginning of a comeback again, Curry was just back from a distance and was there again with a layup after a drive against Olynyk. The game was finally decided a good one and a half minutes before the end.
NBA: The Stats Leaders in Warriors vs. Jazz
Category | Warriors | Jazz |
Points | Stephen Curry (33) | Lauri Markkanen (24) |
Rebounds | Kevon Looney (12) | Jarred Vanderbilt (10) |
Assists | Jordan Poole (6) | Jordan Clarkson (10) |
Steals | Andrew Wiggins (3) | Malik Beasley (5) |
Blocks | Draymond Green (2) | Walker Kessler (3) |