No Draymond Green. No Al Horford. No Jonathan Kuminga. No problem.
Despite a three-game skid for the Golden State Warriors and major injury problems in the frontcourt, the Dubs managed to right the ship and get back in the win column on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. Steph Curry's 31 points led the way for 8 different Warriors to score 9+ points in the 134-117 victory.
Rough First Quarter Raises Questions Early#
The blowout nature of the final score doesn't tell the whole story of the contest. In fact, the first few minutes of the game made it look like the Warriors were about to suffer their fourth-straight defeat.
Fresh off a tight loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night, the Jazz came out roaring, scoring the first 11 points before Jimmy Butler finally put in an and-one bucket 3 and a half minutes in.
The Warriors battled back to even it up at certain points in the first, but after 15 points from Keynote George, a Brice Sensabaugh three-pointer put the score at 35-26 through the first 12 minutes.
It was the opposite of how the Warriors wanted to start, coming off two days of rest against a 5-11 team on the second night of a back-to-back.
Warriors Put Together Masterful 2nd Quarter#
Whatever was talked about in the huddle during the intermission must have been inspiring, though, because the Warriors were locked in after that. In fact, the Jazz didn't make a basket until nearly six minutes into the quarter.
The Warriors got just about anything they wanted on offense, breaking the paint while knocking down their threes. Highlighted by an 18-0 run, this onslaught culminated in a 41-20 second quarter and a 12-point lead at halftime.
The third quarter, and really the rest of the game, was more of the same. Behind a complete team effort — a rarity for the Warriors this season — they were able to stick it into cruise control and pick up a much-needed victory to get back over .500.
Gary Payton II slid into the starting lineup in place of Will Richard and provided 9 points, 6 rebounds, and a career-high 8 assists, while Buddy Hield poured in 20 points off the bench in his highest scoring game of the season.
Importantly, Curry and Butler both played less than 30 minutes, accumulating rest that will be wholly necessary when considering the Warriors' next opponent: the Houston Rockets. The current No. 4 seed in the Western Conference will arrive at Chase Center on Wednesday night for a marquee matchup in Kevin Durant's first game in the Bay Area as a member of the Rockets.