Golden State Warriors vs. Utah Jazz

The Golden State Warriors are averaging 115.8 points on 49.1 percent shooting and allowing 99.8 points on 42.5 percent shooting. However, following a four-game win streak the Thunder have improved to 11-6 on the year and they have opened up a two-game lead over the Utah Jazz. Gordon Hayward led the team with 19 points. The Warriors’ 22 3s were the most ever against the Suns and 11 more than any other team has made versus Phoenix this season…. LeBron James is continuing to play at an amazingly high level and the Cavs should be even better once Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov get healthy.

“I felt like our guys executed everything that we tried to do”, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. The problem with that is if you struggle with your defensive rotations even slightyly, it plays right into the hands of what the Warriors want to do.

The Warriors are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games and 16-5 ATS in their last 21 games overall.

“I had pretty good position for a minute on Favors, and then Gobert came flying out of nowhere”, Green said. The slow-paced Jazz controlled tempo and generally played the style they prefer, trailing by double digits for all of 14 seconds on the night.

HORNETS: Center Al Jefferson will miss approximately 2 to 3 weeks with a strained left calf. The team already has beat their franchise record for 3-pointers and assists in a season.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, in Salt Lake City. “If we’re trying to do that, I think by and large we’ll be successful the majority of the time, and then shots either fall or they don’t”. We wanted to push the tempo. They out-rebounded the Jazz by 10, including 14 offensive boards, several of which were killers. His 12 points at halftime were the most of any Warriors player. He also finished with six rebounds and two steals. They run deep and get contributions from players like Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes. And despite it all, the Jazz are probably streak-breakers if one Rodney Hood three goes down in the closing moments.

The Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings on Saturday 120-101 with Curry not playing the entire fourth quarter but still put up 19 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals in 29 minutes of action.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors lays up a shot against the Phoenix Suns.

Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters the defending champions had to be at their best at all times as the opposition were going all out to topple them. “I don’t mind giving it up”.

If you didn’t know better, it would have been easy to confuse Ian Clark for Curry in the first half.

Upcoming games include one on Monday as Golden State will be in Utah (9 pm ET).

And the Jazz had a golden opportunity to virtually end the Warriors’ remarkable start to the season when Hood unleashed from beyond the arc with five seconds left on the clock, but his shot missed. Of course, with LSU’s Ben Simmons as a possible prize in next year’s NBA Draft, I suspect Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie isn’t minding his team’s futility.

The team also needs to take advantage of the minutes when Curry is on the bench. It’s something the Warriors don’t take for granted. The team says it’s a sprain and that X-rays are negative.

All of this winning is still coming without the services of Head Coach Steve Kerr, at least on the court, as Interim Head Coach Luke Walton has filled his shoes to a tune of a 16-0 start on the season, but believes a loss is destined to come.