OAKLAND, Calif. _ For the 12 most competitive minutes of this now-completed, undefeated Warriors homestand, the Utah Jazz slowed the pace, threw Golden State's offense into some mud and showed why their contrasting style could make a playoff series between the two at least mildly interesting.
But then the Warriors shook off that 19-point first quarter, exploded for a 36-point second and raced past a Jazz offense that would seem to lack the required firepower to make that potential playoff series anything more than mildly uncomfortable for Golden State.
Tuesday night's final: Warriors 104, Jazz 74, bumping Golden State's NBA-best record to 25-4.
Utah was missing two key cogs. Starting point guard George Hill and power forward Derrick Favors sat with minor injuries. But their best player, Gordon Hayward, and the backbone of their defense, Rudy Gobert, were available.
Gobert swatted a first quarter shot. The Jazz perimeter blanketed Klay Thompson early. The Jazz forced the game into their preferred pace. Three minutes in, the score was still 0-0. Seven minutes in, it was 6-5. At the end of the first quarter, it was 19-15. In an East Bay arena known for its point eruptions, a Big Ten game had broken out.
But it didn't last long.
Kevin Durant opened up the second quarter with a 16-footer and then a 15-footer. Andre Iguodala nailed a 3 and the lead had quickly spiked to 11. Utah answered with a mini run, but with 8:12 left in the second quarter, Thompson finally squirted free for a jumper. To that point, 16 minutes in, he was scoreless. But with the seal broken, five minutes later, Thompson had poured in 11 quick points on four shots.
The lead had been upped to 14. Which is the problem for the Jazz. They can suffocate your offense and pull you into a frustrating slugfest. But if you spurt ahead, it's hard for them to climb back. They lack the explosion of the Rockets, the last team to beat the Warriors in Oracle.
The Jazz's two best available scorers, Hayward and Rodney Hood, struggled on Tuesday night. Hayward went 2-of-10 and missed all six of his 3s. Hood went 0-of-5 and missed all three of his 3s. The supplementary pieces didn't add much. The Jazz fell into an extended funk.
In all, Utah shot 35.5 percent overall, 30 percent from deep and 55 percent from the line, missing nine of 20 free throws. And without the ability to keep up with the Warriors, the defense seemed to let off the gas pedal by the middle of the second quarter.
On one particular play, Draymond Green got a defensive rebound off a missed Jazz free throw, burst upcourt and found no road block between him and the rim. So he just cruised right in, like an untouched linebacker in the secondary, and threw down a dunk, complete with a rim hang that earned him a questionable technical foul.
In the second half, Steph Curry got hot and nailed a pair of off-the-dribble 3s _ maybe the night's most encouraging sign for the Warriors, considering Curry _ usually deadly in that area _ entered uncharacteristic sub-30 percent on those shots this season.
Curry finished the night with 25 points on 18 shots. Durant finished with 22 on 14 shots. Thompson had 17 on 13 and Green had 15 on 11, plus a team-best 11 rebounds to help close out a dominant homestand. In these three wins in Oracle _ against the Knicks, Blazers and Jazz _ the Warriors led by double-digits for every second of all three second halves.
Up next for the Warriors: A compact road trip out East, starting on Thursday against a bad Brooklyn Nets team, continuing on Friday against a decent Detroit Pistons team and closing on Christmas Sunday against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
