SALT LAKE CITY _ The Warriors played as if they wanted to pace themselves through training camp. The Jazz played as if they wanted to steal Game 1 in a playoff series.
Therefore, it did not take long for the Warriors' 119-79 loss to Utah Jazz on Tuesday to resemble something both foreign and familiar. The foreign: despite having three healthy All-Stars, the Warriors labored to do anything offensively and defensively. The familiar: after spending the 2017-18 season fighting complacency over their two NBA championships in the past three years, the Warriors ended the regular-season with the same mindset.
The Warriors set a season-low in points scored in the first half (33) and record their worst point differential of the season (40), trailing only when the Warriors also lost to Utah by 30 points on Jan. 30. Durant (13 points on 5-of-12 shooting) and Thompson (23 points on 9-of-27 shooting) both shot inefficiently from the field. And the Warriors barely tried on defense, allowing Utah to shoot proficiently (53.3 percent), share the ball (25 assists) and dominate in rebounds (54-39).
Add it all up, the Warriors (58-24) lost their third game in the past four contests well aware their No. 2 seed stayed intact. Perhaps they were also aware that a loss ensured the Warriors would not play against Utah or Oklahoma City in the first round, considering the Jazz (3-1) and Oklahoma City (2-2) hurt the Warriors in regular-season matchups.
Still, Utah (48-33) tied with Portland (48-33) for third place entering a regular-season finale on Wednesday. The New Orleans Pelicans (47-34), San Antonio Spurs (47-34), Minnesota Timberwolves (46-35) or Denver Nuggets (46-35) could play the Warriors in the first round, though that hinges on other matchups on Wednesday between Denver-Minnesota, San Antonio-New Orleans, Oklahoma City-Memphis.
"We want to end the season strong and go into the playoffs. You want to roll into the playoffs not limping," Warriors forward Draymond Green said beforehand. "It's important we come out and play a good game tonight. That doesn't necessarily mean to win the game. But we need to play our brand of basketball. I think if we play our brand of basketball, we win. It's important to feel good about yourself."
The Warriors hardly felt good about themselves against the Jazz.
The Warriors never led in the game, and the outcome seemed already determined when Utah stormed out to a 23-9 lead with 4:54 left in the first quarter.
