Stephen Curry led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists, Durant and Green both had 17, and the Golden State Warriors dominated the Utah Jazz in game one of the second round.
The week off proved to not matter too much for the Warriors as they came in strong in the first quarter leading 27 to 21. The ball movement was visible in the first quarter. Multiple times you could see two to three passes and them making that extra pass for a shot. The Warriors had 32 assists on 40 made baskets.
Utah Jazz issues
If you watched the Jazz play and struggled against the Clippers, it's not surprising to see this game one result.
The Jazz system of slowing you down and making you efficient didn't do anything to the Warriors. The Warriors got in transition and got in space and could get whatever they wanted at any time in game one. It was a nice display of skill for the Dubs especially with head coach Steve Kerr still away due to health issues. The Jazz are having trouble defending 1 through 5 of the Warriors because the Dubs are so quick. Rudy Gobert is a great defender, and he gets put in these positions where he has to switch on screens, and he cannot guard Stephen Curry. Of course, that's not something just anyone can do, but it's really going to dominate the Jazz all night.
All five starters scored in double digits for the Warriors, and despite just shooting 24 percent from three, the Warriors got it done everywhere else shooting 90 percent from the free throw line and nearly 50 percent from the floor.
Adjustments for Utah
It's tough to begin on what to adjust for Utah but first and foremost has to be speed and efficiency. The Jazz shot 31 percent from three and this just won't cut it to beat the Warriors. They have to make more threes. This starts with Gordon Hayward, who went 2 of 9 from behind the arc. Hayward has to shoot better and has to find guys like George Hill and Joe Ingles to step up.
After that, the Jazz needs to stop the Warriors in transition sooner. Too often the Jazz would miss a shot or turn it over, and off the Warriors went finding an open guy up the floor and getting layups or dunks. They need to clean this up, or this series will only get worse. Force the Warriors to play from the halfcourt because even though they are still good from halfcourt offense, you have a better shot at getting shots to miss.
Game two will be played on Thursday at 10:30 PM EST on ESPN. Look for the Jazz to come out with better urgency in this one.
