by Jerry Feitelberg

Salt Lake City- The Golden State Warriors, playing the third game in four days and the second in the last two days, downed the Utah Jazz 106-99. The Jazz, playing with five players out with injuries, fell behind early and trailed by nineteen at the half, rallied to outplay the Dubs in the second half but fell short. The Jazz love to slow the pace of the game and try to get opposing teams out of rhythm. The Dubs, on the other hand, run the court and enjoy it when they get good ball movement and get players open for shots.

The Warriors played their style in the first half. The Jazz scored the first two buckets of the game to lead 4-0. TheWarriors then went on an amazing 26-1 run to lead 35-17 after one-quarter. Steph Curry made two 3-pointers early in the run. The Jazz played the Dubs even in the second quarter. Steph finished the half with 17, and Draymond Green was second in scoring with 12. He also made two 3-point shots and had eight rebounds. Patrick McCaw, coming off the bench added ten as the Dubs increased the advantage to nineteen 65-46.

The second half was an entirely different story. The Jazz held the Dubs scoreless for the first three minutes of the third quarter. The Dubs were out of rhythm, and that allowed the Jazz to get back into the game. They outscored the Dubs by seven in the period and closed the gap to just twelve 82-70 after three-quarters. The Jazz refused to go away and the Warriors behind Kevin Durant’s strong play in the second half were able to play just well enough to win the game. Dubs win 106-99

Game Notes- With the win, the Warriors improve to 20-3 while Utah falls to 14-10. Shaun Livingstone had the night off. Backup guards Patrick McCaw, and Ian Clark played well. McCaw had ten points all in the first half and Clark nailed two 3-point shots in the fourth quarter that helped seal the win for Golden State. Kevin Durant, who scored just four points in the first half, finished the game with twenty-one points. Durant also recorded eleven rebounds to give him a double-double. Draymond Green also had a double-double. Green scored thirteen and had ten boards. Steph Curry led the team with twenty-six. Klay Thompson scored ten. The Warriors, loaded with talent, do not have to rely on one or two players to carry the load. The entire team makes contributions both on offense as well as defense. In Thursday’s game, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney, JaVale McGee, David West, Ian Clark, and Patrick McCaw all made significant contributions. Draymond Green hurt his ankle late in the third quarter. Green was helped off the court and went to the dressing room for treatment. Draymond returned to the bench in the fourth quarter and returned to action.

Joe Johnson with 13, Shelvin Mack(19), Rudy Gobert(20), and Joe Ingles(21) carried the attack for Utah. Steve Kerr said this about the Jazz:”give them a lot of credit.They are a well-coached team.”  Kerr said the Dubs”didn’t play our best.The first quarter was great, intensely fantastic.” He also thought Patrick McCaw had a nice game.

The Warriors travel to Memphis for game three of the five-game road trip on Saturday. Game time will be at 4 pm. After the game, the Dubs are off to Minneapolis to face the Timberwolves on Sunday.