Despite the poor shooting, the Golden State Warriors came away with a 102-91 win in game 3 of the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Warriors can thank Kevin Durant's performance for the victory which means now the Warriors are winning their series against the Utah Jazz 3-0.
This was the first game of the series played in Utah. Some of the Warriors have previously commented on playing the series in Utah, stating that the Los Angeles would have been their preferred opponent as the Hollywood nightlife is better than the one in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz put up a great fight on home court
Despite these comments, on home court, the Jazz put up a fight for the first time this series. They held a 48-47 lead late in the second quarter and continued to challenge the Warriors throughout the game. Despite all of this, the Warriors once again proved to be too dominant, as despite what was considered a poor shooting night for the Warriors, they managed to bring just enough firepower to win the game and turned up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor.
Kevin Durant was the only Warriors starter that was considered to have a good match. Durant lead all scorers with 38 points and also added 13 points; he also leads an otherwise inefficient offense, which only shot 44 percent for the night.
Social Media took note of Durant and the Warriors performance. With the rest of the starting unit combining for only 45 points along with the fact that Klay Thomspon, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green all were inefficient on the offensive end.
Both teams were having a bad shooting night
Matt Peterson of NBA.com took note of the inefficiency. Despite Curry taking charge in the second half scoring 18 of his 23 points in this period, he only shot a total of 30 percent. Throughout the second and third quarter, the Jazz managed to control the pace of the game in their favor even at one stage having a 62-53 lead in the third quarter with eight minutes remaining.
Despite all of this the Utah Jazz team were also having a poor shooting night, shooting only 39 percent overall including 32 percent from three point range and were unable to keep with the pace of the game once the Warriors started clicking into gear.
Mercury News' Marcus Thompson took note that despite the Jazz's struggles Gordon Hayward was a sole bright spot. Gordon Hayward managed to score the same amount of points as the splash brothers combined for (29), despite this the Jazz did not manage to win the game due to the lack of help that Hayward had throughout the match.
The Warriors are proving they are still favorites
For the Utah Jazz, their playoff run has not come to an end yet. However this loss was disheartening for their them as they had the chance to seize the game away from the Warriors but instead, the Warriors managed to go through the rough patch and win the game which leads them one step closer to the Western Conference Finals.
Kevin Durant took over the game when his teammates needed him the most, and Curry managed to find his shot just in time to put the game away.
The Golden State Warriors entered the playoffs as the huge favorites to get through the Western Conference; seven straight playoff wins later only confirms that everyone's prediction has not changed as they look for their second title in three seasons.