The Jazz and Warriors head to Utah to battle it out in a game three matchup that is crucial for Utah if they want to push this series to the limit. Game 2 was a close battle out of the Jazz, but they'll need to fight a little bit harder to pull out a win Saturday night.
Game 2 recap
The Warriors took down the Jazz behind Kevin Durant's 25 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, Stephen Curry contributed 23 points, and Draymond Green tacked on 21.
The Jazz did find some positives out of this game even though it came with a loss. They challenged the Warriors, the first team to do so in these playoffs.
In game one their transition defense was terrible, but this was at least fixed a bit in game 2. They gave up 29 fast break points in game one but just 19 in game 2. On the other side, they played a bit faster in game two as well, scoring more in transition than in game 1.
Keys for Utah
Game 3 is a pivotal game for Utah. There are a few keys that are big for the Jazz to take this game. The first thing is dominating on the glass. If there's one knock on the Warriors, it would be rebounding. Rudy Gobert is a very good rebounder, and if he can dominate on the glass, the Jazz has a good shot at winning this game.
Gobert and Favors getting more rebounds especially on offense, can get the Jazz more possessions.
The Jazz needs to win the possession battle to defeat Golden State. The Warriors are too good and too efficient that if you get the same or fewer possessions than them, then you will lose.
Keys for Golden State
Pushing the tempo should be their first goal. The Warriors are good in transition and are efficient at it. They need to keep pushing against Utah because Utah won't be able to keep up with them.
Secondly, focusing on stopping Gordon Hayward is the main key for stopping the Jazz offense. Hayward can be really good on offense, and the Jazz offense is much better when he's involved in it.
If the Warriors stop Hayward, they will be able to stop the whole flow of the Utah offense. Other guys on that team won't be able to create shots for themselves against the Warriors.
This game is determined by efficiency, flow, and speed, whichever team can shoot more efficient and control the flow and speed of the match will win. Both teams are good at managing turnovers, so it should be a clean game. The Jazz is fighting for their lives, and they need to show that urgency if they want any chance at putting up a fight in this series.
The game starts at 8:30 PM EST on ABC.
