The Jazz came into Oracle Arena on Tuesday riding a four-game winning streak and having won 7 of their past 8 overall. On the surface, the Jazz have the kind of team that could give the Warriors some trouble.
They have a knack for slowing up the game, limiting possessions and not allowing easy baskets either in transition or at the rim. They showed off some of those strengths early, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors wound up rolling 104-74.
Here’s a link to “Warriors WrapUp” on 95.7-FM The Game.
The problem Utah had Tuesday, and may have down the road, is that no matter how deliberate you are if you’re struggling to score and you’re turning it over when you’re not scoring you’re in big trouble. The Jazz turned the ball over a season-high 23 times and shot just 35.5 percent from the field so you can see why they finished with just 74 points.
Here were some of the topics on the postgame show:
–In a way, this was one of the more impressive efforts by the Warriors. The game was slowed to a crawl early, they weren’t shooting well and the both teams had nothing going offensively for much of the first quarter. But defensively the Warriors were solid start to finish and eventually their offense came around. The big takeaway from the win was that the Warriors don’t necessarily need everything to go right in order for them to win big. At least against the Jazz, a team that came in 18-10, by the way.
–One reason the Jazz have trouble scoring is they don’t have anyone who can create their own shot. With the Warriors able to switch so much on the perimeter, the Jazz seldom had an advantage on hand-offs and interchanges.
The Jazz figure to get better when George Hill gets back — along with Derrick Favors consistently but offense is going to be hard to locate sometimes. Utah also doesn’t have a player who commands a double-team, which also limits them on the offensive end.
–JaVale McGee managed to get 14 shots up in 15 minutes, and he finished with eight points and seven rebounds in that time. Not bad, but he didn’t convert enough on the interior. Still, it’s obvious that he’s in Steve Kerr’s rotation … at least for now.
In fact, Kerr went out of his way to praise McGee — not only McGee’s play but also his attitude and disposition. The Warriors don’t need much out of McGee, but if he can give them a good, solid 15 minutes most nights, they’ll take it.
Matt Steinmetz 