Tag: Utah Jazz

Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, rear, fouls Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga during the second half in Salt Lake City on Wed Dec 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors missed three starters Wednesday night when they faced the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Stephen Curry was out with an ankle injury. Draymond Green could not play with a hip problem, and Andrew Wiggins has a groin injury.

The Jazz thought they could coast to an easy win. The revamped Warrior lineup gave the Jazz fits. Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Jonathan Kuminga, and Donte DiVincenzo all played well and their effort almost, but not quite, got them a win. The Jazz found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as they found a way and were able to send their fans home happy with a thrilling 124-123 victory. 

The Warriors won the first half 69-66. Jordan Poole led the team with 21 points in the first 24 minutes. Klay Thompson had 11, and Kuminga added nine. The Warriors and Jazz played a very entertaining first half. Neither team could pull away.

The Warriors led most of the way, but Utah came right back. Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley, and Collin Sexton led the way for Utah. The teams raced up and down the court. The Warriors head coach had Ty Jerome and JaMychal Green in the starting lineup.

Green scored seven points in the first quarter to help the Warriors finish the period leading 35-30. The Jazz outscored the Warriors 36-34 in the second period. The Warriors second unit did not fold as the Jazz attacked the basket. Kuminga, Thompson, Anthony Lamb, and Poole played well. At the end of the half, the Warriors led by three, 69-66.

The third quarter belonged to the Jazz. Utah focused on shutting down Poole. The Jazz outscored the Warriors by 12, 34-22. The Jazz made seven threes to put them in the driver’s seat. The Warriors missed several layups. Golden State could not get the threes to fall. Utah finished the third quarter leading 100-91. 

The Jazz increased the lead to ten, 110-100, early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors’ Poole hit a three and a two-pointer to close the gap to 111-109. Moody connected on a three to make it a one-point game 113-112. The momentum had shifted to the Warriors. Utah scored the next four points, but Moody sunk another three to creep within two, 117-115.

Poole made a bucket to tie the game. Kuminga’s bucket gave the Warriors the lead 119-117 with 36 seconds left. Jordan Clarkson was driving to the basket to tie the score. Kuminga blocked his shot and grabbed the rebound. Clarkson whacked Jonathan in the face.

Tempers flared. Both players were given a technical foul. Referee Mark Davis hit Clarkson with a flagrant two-foul. Clarkson was ejected from the game. Kuminga was awarded two free three, and the Warriors retained possession. Kuminga made one free three. Poole was fouled, and he missed one.

The Warriors led 123-119 with 13.3 seconds left to play. The Jazz scored a bucket to make it 123-122 with 6.7 seconds left. All the Warriors had to do was get the ball inbounded and run out the clock. The Jazz probably would foul and hope to get the last shot. What could go wrong?

The Warriors had trouble getting the ball into play. They called a timeout to go over what to do. The plan was to get the ball into Poole’s hands. The Warriors did get the ball to him, but Utah was all over him and stole the ball. The Jazz scored the winning layup as time expired. All the Warriors could do was wonder what went wrong. They will have a tough flight home. The Jazz won the game 124-123.

Game Notes and stats: With the loss, the Warriors are 13-13. The Jazz improved to 15-12

There were many positives in the game. Kuminga played his best game of the year. Kuminga had a season-high 24 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Kuminga played very well on defense, too. Poole led the club with 36 points, four boards, and eight assists. Thompson tallied 22 points and had four threes. DiVincenzo had seven points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Those numbers are very similar to what Draymond Green would do. 

The Warriors shot 46% from the floor. They made 14 threes. They almost won in an arena that has been a house of horrors for them over the years. 

The Jazz had seven players in double figures. Jodan Clarkson led the Jazz with 22. Simone Fontecchio had 18, Malik Beasley 18, Collin Sexton 17, Kelly Olynyk 15, Mickeil Alexander-Walker 11, and Walker Kessler had ten points and 12 rebounds. Kessler is 7’1, and Kelly Olynyk is 6’11. 

The Warriors host the Boston Celtics at the Chase Center Saturday night. Last year, the Warriors beat the Celtics in the Finals to become NBA Champions. The Celtics will be hoping to gain revenge by beating the Warriors on their homecourt Saturday night.

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) gets up over Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) for a two point attempt at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sat Apr 2, 2022 (AP News photo)

Warriors Battle Past Jazz 111-107

By Barbara Mason

As the Golden State Warriors (49-29) head into the final games of the season there is a lot still up in the air for the Warriors. The team will be without Stephen Curry for the remainder of the regular season (four more games left).

It’s not what the team wanted to hear but Curry is still aiming for getting healthy going into the playoffs although he did admit that this was not the ideal way for any team to end a season.

Head Coach Steve Kerr recognizes that the most important thing right now is having Curry healthy for the start of the playoffs regardless of where Golden State finishes in the standings. Still a lot is still to be determined when it comes to matchups and it will no doubt change before season’s end. Curry will be re-evaluated at the end of the regular season.

Tonight the Warriors took on the fifth place Utah Jazz (46-32). This game is huge for both teams. The Jazz currently stand in fifth place in the Western Conference and Golden State is in third place with the Mavericks nipping at their heels in fourth place a half game behind the Warriors.

The Warriors will need a fast paced game. They will need to be patient and be aggressive and above all protect the ball. Turnovers killed the team last Wednesday against the Suns with 21. This has to turn around. The Golden State defense is coming around but the offense has a ways to go.

The Jazz took an early lead after the opening quarter 30-23. The Warriors offense continued to struggle going four of 13 from outside. Utah had the momentum through the first quarter and in the early minutes of the second quarter. Utah’s Donovan Mitchell had 11 points in the first quarter and Klay Thompson had seven points but started to heat up in the start of the second quarter.

Four Minutes into the second quarter the Jazz were totally dominating the game leading 47-28. The Jazz had a monster advantage and it would be an uphill climb for Golden State. The Warriors needed stops but also some far better offense.

Golden State started getting stops but also struggled with empty possessions and turnovers. With two minutes left in the half the Warriors had cut a 21 point Jazz lead to 13 and they did this in two minutes.

The game was turning around offensively in favor of the Warriors. The effort and energy of Golden State was improved in the late second quarter and they would need more of that in the second half. The Warriors also had 11 first half turnovers and they cannot continue on this path. Utah had a 58-45 half time lead.

At 3:50 left in the third quarter the Warriors got within single digits of the Jazz.79-70. After three quarters the Warriors had cut the Jazz lead to six.

As the fourth quarter wore on it became apparent that the Warriors just could not keep pace with Utah or could they? Everything turned around with 5:37 left in the game and it appeared that yes they could keep up with the Jazz.

Three straight stops and three shots from downtown made all the difference in this game. The Jazz lead had shrunk to four 103-99. The Warriors had a ball game. With 3:31 left in the game the Warriors had their first lead of the game 105-103. Golden State had a 18-0 run and 20 from downtown in this game.

It came down to a one point game and under two minutes left on the clock. The Warriors needed to close this game out. Chase Center was on their feet in this playoff like atmosphere. With 7.8 left in the game the Warriors led 109-106 and Draymond Green was at the free throw line. Golden State finished this game 111-107. The 30th win at Chase was one to remember.

“I am incredibly proud of him,” said Thompson of Poole who finished with 31 points. Thompson himself had 36 points in this crazy game. “I could feel that I was going to have a big night in the weight room. Not in the first half, not my best half but I kept shooting. What a way to snap out of this streak we had,” Thompson said in regards to their four game losing streak. “I am just incredibly proud of everyone who played tonight. It took a lot of grit and mental fortitude,” he said.

Sunday night the Warriors travel to Sacramento to take on the Kings in a game that they not only need to win but should win. Thompson eluded to the fact that they should beat the Kings. The Warriors expended a lot of energy in this Jazz game but they will be riding in on an incredible high after tonight’s win. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) takes a shot against Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) in the first half at the Chase Center on Sun Jan 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with Barbara:

#1 Talk about Draymond Green and Klay Thompson’s injury updates.

#2 The Warriors really started hitting those threes and limiting the turnovers against the Jazz.

#3 The Warriors will be meeting the Jazz again Feb 9. This could be an even tougher game than Sunday’s game was.

#4 Next up for the Warriors will be the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. How do you see this game.

Barbara Mason does the Golden State Warriors podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com