Winning didn’t seem to be the highest priority for the Warriors on Monday night. Instead, Warriors coach Steve Kerr focused on making sure not to overextend the minutes of his starters — and to that extent, he accomplished what he set out to do.
The game? Well, the Jazz beat the Warriors 105-99 at Oracle to snap Golden State’s 14-game winning streak. Other than that, this one didn’t have ramifications for the Warriors (66-15).
The Jazz, on the other hand, needed the win to keep alive their hopes to earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Kevin Durant played 32 minutes, but none of his teammates reached 30 minutes as the Warriors had their eyes on their first-round matchup with Portland this weekend a little more than the immediate outcome against the Jazz.
Warriors forward Matt Barnes sprained his right ankle/foot during Saturday’s game against the Pelicans and didn’t play on Monday. The Warriors said he would also miss Wednesday’s season-finale against the Lakers but hoped he could return for the first round of the playoffs.
The Warriors played without Klay Thompson, who was given the game off to rest.