OAKLAND, Calif. _ The Golden State Warriors' scouting attention, admittedly by Steve Kerr, has already turned toward their first round matchup with the Portland Blazers. But before then, two tune-up regular season games must be played.
The first went down on Monday night in Oracle Arena, a 105-99 win by the Utah Jazz over the Warriors, snapping Golden State's seasonlong 14-game win streak. The result meant nothing to the Warriors, but there were some encouraging signs and expected indifference sprinkled throughout.
Most watchful eyes remain on Kevin Durant, who again played modestly well in his second game back from a knee injury that required a 39-day recovery process.
Durant was quiet in the first half, taking a back seat to a dialed-in Steph Curry. In 18 first half minutes, Curry put up 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, making five of his six 3s, which bumped him over 315 made 3s on the season _ the second most prolific 3-point season in history, behind only himself (402) last year.
Meanwhile, Durant only took five first-half shots in his 17 minutes, blending in as he works back into the flow. As Curry controlled the offense, Durant helped out on the defensive glass (10 rebounds on Monday) plus peppered around five first-half assists.
But in the second half, Durant cranked up the aggressiveness. Early in the third quarter, he attacked a backpedalling Joe Ingles on a transition drive, mini euro step and smooth floater. A couple minutes later, he shredded by Jazz point guard Dante Exum with a quick left to right crossover before rising, uncoiling and planting his most powerful dunk since the return.
His second most powerful dunk came a couple minutes later, when Durant again showed encouraging explosiveness off that left knee with a quick-twitch, jab-step drive from about 18 feet out and a poster dunk right in the face of a helping Joe Bolomboy.
Durant finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his 32 minutes before sitting the final six minutes as Kerr opted for rest rather than chasing a meaningless win.
The knee looks all the way back, the game is nearing a full return, but Durant has yet to find his long-range shot. Durant made six of his seven 2-point field goals against the Jazz, but missed all five of his 3s on Monday night and is now 0-of-9 from deep in his first two games back. In the third quarter, after those dunks seemed to thrust him into rhythm, Durant tried two confident pull-up 3s to break the seal. He bricked both.
Conversely, Utah point guard George Hill didn't brick much. Unlike the Warriors, the Jazz still had something on the line on Monday, entering the night tied with the Clippers for the fourth seed. If Utah can finish a game ahead of the Clippers, they'll capture homecourt in the impending 4-5 playoff matchup between the two.
The winner of that series will get the Warriors (if they beat the 8th-seeded Blazers) in Round 2. Should it be a Jazz matchup, Hill's offensive production will go a long way in deciding whether Utah can remain competitive.
Utah's underrated but injury-prone point guard has been great when on the court this season. On Monday, while fighting off a groin strain and limited to 19 minutes, he scored 20 points and made five of his seven 3s, springing free and raining through several wide-open looks in the first half as a lackadaisical Golden State defense failed to keep a body on Hill.
That sharpshooting, along with a strong 17-point, 18-rebound double-double by Rudy Gobert, kept the Jazz in it into the fourth quarter. That's when Curry, who had 28 points in 30 minutes, sat for the rest of the night, soon joined by Durant and Draymond Green.
Down the stretch, the more desperate Jazz took over the game, clinched by a Joe Johnson floater in the final minute, snapping the Warrior win streak.
_ Warrior reserve Matt Barnes missed Monday night's game with a right foot/ankle sprain. He will also miss Wednesday's finale against the Los Angeles Lakers and, though he's hopeful to return for Game 1 of the playoffs this weekend, his status remains uncertain.
_ Klay Thompson rested on Monday night and is expected to return for the finale. Kerr said the plan, as of now, is to play Thompson, Green, Durant and Curry in that game.
