Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

It is amazing how injuries to several key players can send a season spiraling south. The Warriors were without the four All-Star players Sunday night, and they were slammed by a very young, hungry, and torrid Utah Jazz squad as they fell 110-91. The Jazz are now 23-4 in their last 27 games.

The Warriors were the first NBA team to have four starters named as All-Stars, and it appears that they may also be the first team to have all four All-Stars injured and unable to play at the same time.

The Warriors’ two-time NBA MVP, Steph Curry, injured his medial collateral ligament in his left knee in last Friday’s game against Atlanta. He will be reevaluated by the team’s doctors in three weeks on April 14th. It does not mean he will return to action in the first playoff series as the injury normally takes four to six weeks to heal.

The Warriors need Klay Thompson (broken thumb), Kevin Durant (injured rib cartilage), and Draymond Green (bruised groin and the flu) to return as soon as possible. The Warriors may be facing Utah in the first round, and they will need every able-bodied player to be at full strength to be able to handle Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and company.

The Warriors, coached by Steve Kerr, and the Jazz, coached by Quin Snyder, played a fairly low-scoring first period. The Warriors started five players that had never played together as a unit. All five players had been relegated to the bench during the season.

Nick Young, JaVale McGee, Patrick McCaw, Kevon Looney, and Quinn Cook took the floor for Steve Kerr’s club. They played excellent defense and held the Jazz to just 18 points, while scoring 22 in the first 12 minutes of action.

The Jazz–behind Gobert, Mitchell, and Ingles–outscored the Warriors 35-25 in the second quarter and finished the half leading 53-47. Andre Iguodala led the Warrior offense with nine points. Andre mad all three-point shots he attempted in the first half. Quinn Cook and JaVale McGee each had eight.

The Jazz increased the lead to 23 at the end of the third quarter. They scored 36, and their defense held the Warriors to just 18 points. The Warriors took the fourth quarter, 26-21, but they could not come back from a 23-point deficit.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors had just two players that scored double-digit points. Cook led the Warriors with 17 and Iguodala finished with 12. Nick Young and David West had nine apiece while JaVale McGee and Patrick McCaw had eight.

The Jazz had a balanced attack as they had seven players in double figures. Donovan Mitchell had 21, Rudy Gobert 17, Jae Crowder 14, Joe Ingles 14, Dante Exum 13, Ricky Rubio 11, and Derrick Favors 10. The Jazz shot 48.3% from the floor and made 12 3-point shots. The Warriors were held to 41.8% from the floor, and they made six treys in 20 attempts.

Up Next: The Warriors need one more win or one Portland loss to sew up the second seed in the NBA Western Conference. They play the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night and the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento Saturday night.