The Warriors’ Late Push Proves Too Much for the Jazz

Mitchell usually found extra defenders waiting when he attacked off the dribble. (Noah Graham via espn.com)

A slow start and a ragged finish proved too much for the Utah Jazz to overcome in their Tuesday visit to Golden State. Utah managed just 14 first-quarter points and later gave up a 20-4 Warriors run in the fourth quarter, enough to negate impressive 2nd and 3rd quarter performances from the road team. The loss overall shouldn’t be too discouraging. The Dubs are on a tear lately (“lately” being the last four years or so, but Golden State has also now won 16 of their last 17) and the Jazz went into the game as the underdogs. Nevertheless, the Jazz had a chance to win, leading by as many as seven points early in the final quarter. 

In all honesty, this kind of an effort is encouraging. The Jazz fought back. And losing a close game against the best team in the league just before the break might be a positive. This kind of an effort will win a lot of games. Probably against anyone not named Warriors, Bucks, or Raptors. The close loss could also leave a bad taste over the break and keep the Jazz hungry. 

After getting down by as many as 11 in the first quarter, the Jazz rallied back in the second and their defense went into lockdown mode, holding the Warriors to only 22 points. On the other end, the Jazz scored 70 points in the second and third periods combined. 

So what are the takeaways?

• Donovan Mitchell needs some scoring relief. It’s just too much weight for him to carry alone right now, especially against good teams who know how to put pressure on him defensively. We already know this and unfortunately this won’t get better this season, unless Dante Exum returns from injury ready to make an improbable leap. 
• The Jazz defense is also really, really good — capable of dictating pace and flow even against the Golden State Warriors. 
• We also saw a bit more time with Royce O’Neale at the four spot for some small-ball, as we have in the last few games. The Jazz spacing and offense during these stretches has looked incredible. 

As stated, the Jazz effort defensively was phenomenal. The Warriors will always have runs, and unfortunately the final run was too much for the Jazz. With a little more offensive firepower, the end result might have been a little different. 

Looking ahead, the Jazz are going to come back from the break ready for a run. The first stretch back to end February isn’t easy, with the Thunder, Nuggets, Clippers, and Bucks to start March, but it gets really good after that, where the Jazz have a whole bunch of winnable games.