Warriors-Jazz Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Dec 25 2012 9:06PM

The Golden State Warriors didn't appear to be bothered by a loss in their final game before Christmas.

They've done a good job of quickly putting almost all of their defeats behind them.

The Warriors try to avoid dropping back-to-back games for the first time in well over a month Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz, winners of 10 of 12 in this series at home.

One night after cruising to a 115-100 win over Charlotte, Golden State (18-10) let a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away Saturday in a 118-115 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Jarrett Jack posted season highs of 29 points and 11 assists off the bench while David Lee scored 20 to go along with 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who were outscored 56-38 in the paint.

"This will not put a damper on our Christmas spirits," coach Mark Jackson said. "We're excited about where we're at, and we're excited about where we're headed."

Despite the setback, the second-place Warriors, who haven't lost back-to-back contests since Nov. 9 and 10, sit four games ahead of the third-place Lakers in the Pacific Division and are starting to look more and more like legitimate contenders.

"We got a group that - they don't like losing," Jackson said. "And it's important, individually and collectively, to stop the bleeding after a loss, after a tough outing. You don't want to make it two tough outings, or three tough outings - what you want to do is stop it right away, and this team has been very good at doing that."

Much of Golden State's success is due to a much-improved effort on the road. The Warriors have gone 10-6 as the visiting team and again have a chance to match their 11 road victories from 2011-12.

Wins in Salt Lake City, however, haven't been easy to come by. In addition to dominating this series at home, the Jazz (15-14) have taken nine of 11 on their own court this season.

Utah entered Sunday having dropped four of five but regrouped to win 97-93 at Orlando in its first game since losing point guard Mo Williams for what is expected to be a significant chunk of time. Williams suffered a sprained right thumb the previous night in a 105-89 loss at Miami.

"It is tough, you don't wish that on anybody," said veteran Jamaal Tinsley, who had 11 points and four assists while starting in place of Williams. "This is just the nature of the beast. I get another opportunity to go out there and play. We want him to get well and come back soon. ... We just have to figure out a way to win ballgames and do the right thing."

Earl Watson, who dished out a season best-tying eight assists off the bench against the Magic, should also see plenty of minutes with Williams sidelined.

"Jamaal and Earl (Watson) came in and did a tremendous job for us," coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They pushed the pace, they were getting the ball up the floor, advancing the ball, (and) they did a good job attacking the basket. ... Those guys are true professionals. They do everything they can to help us win."

The Jazz are now 4-1 without Williams. Tinsley has averaged 7.2 assists while running the show in each of those games.

Utah, which has been limited to an average of 88.7 points over its last six contests, could have its hands full against a Warriors team that's won 12 straight when holding opponents to 98 or fewer.

Warriors beat Jazz 94-83

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted Dec 27 2012 12:59AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Golden State Warriors knew they had let one slip away days before Christmas against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This time, Stephen Curry made sure history wouldn't repeat against another Western Conference opponent.

He scored Golden State's first 11 points, then hit 2 of 3 shots in the fourth quarter, including his fourth 3-pointer, to lead the Warriors over the Utah Jazz 94-83 on Wednesday night.

"We were on a mission to come out and play well and keep our road (swagger) - the way we (did) earlier this year," said Curry, who finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a blocked shot. "Everybody stepped up and played a physical game. We did what we had to get the job done tonight."

The loss was only the third at home for the Jazz this season, while Golden State improved to 11-6 on the road.

"They feed off their crowd and they play hard for 48 minutes. But we do the same thing. We wanted to start off well," Curry said.

He set the tone by hitting consecutive 3-pointers and making three free throws after being fouled on another shot beyond the arc - all in less than a minute early in the first quarter.

"He had a good night," said Jazz point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who had his hands full trying to guard Curry while filling in for the injured Mo Williams.

"He's an aggressive point guard. You just got to try to get the ball out of his hands. But he made tough shots."

Jarrett Jack and Klay Thompson had 15 points apiece for the Warriors, who held a 25-5 advantage on fastbreak points and hit 9 of 18 3-point attempts.

The Jazz held a 40-32 advantage on points in the paint but the rebounding battle was virtually even as the Warriors held Utah to a season-low 83 points.

"We just tried to make them into a jump-shooting team,," Curry said of the Jazz, who shot 38.6 percent and hit only 4 of 17 3-pointers.

"They have probably one of the best collaborative big-man rotations. . We played a lot more zone tonight to force them into long jump shots."

Al Jefferson led Utah with 18 points and 10 rebounds. But he didn't get much help from the other Jazz starters. Tinsley was 0 for 3, Randy Foye 3 of 10, Paul Millsap 4 of 10 and Marvin Williams 1 of 6. Sixth man Gordon Hayward was 3 of 10 and Alec Burks 4 of 11.

"Bad shooting," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "We bailed (Golden State) out by taking early shots instead of going inside."

Corbin said the Jazz missed the pace usually provided by Williams, who is out indefinitely with a severely sprained right thumb.

"He can attack the rim, take a shot, make a shot and we just didn't get that tonight. It was a sluggish effort all night," Corbin said.

Millsap added 14 points for Utah and Enes Kanter added 10 off the bench on 4-of-4 shooting.

The Warriors led by as many as 15 points in the first half, and took a 75-58 lead into the fourth quarter.

On Saturday, they let a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away in an 118-115 overtime loss to the Lakers.

This time they kept piling it on.

Curry showed how important it was to keep the pressure on, getting hit hard on a fastbreak layup and giving an emphatic fist pump as the ball dropped through the net and bumped Golden State's lead to 79-60 with about 10 minutes remaining.

He then drained another 3-pointer to make it 82-62 with 9:10 left.

Game over.

The Jazz, meanwhile, looked like a team that struggled to go 2-2 on a recent road trip that saw them outscored by 20 against Indiana and by 16 against Miami.

They had to rally from 16 down Sunday to beat Orlando.

Corbin spoke before the game about wanting to give Jazz fans a nice Christmas gift.

Instead the game was a dud, except for brief fireworks in the second quarter when Kanter grabbed an offensive rebound and swung his elbows wide at Carl Landry. Derrick Favors went to defend teammate Kanter but ended up in a shoving match with Jack, a fellow Georgia Tech player.

Favors and Jack were assessed double technicals and Kanter his own technical, with Jack making the free throw for a 32-23 lead with 9:19 left in the half.

"We're friends in the summertime and off the court but on the court we're enemies," Favors said of his relationship with Jack. "He went after one of my teammates so I got to help out."

Jack wasn't about to back down either.

"There were some comments made about our basketball team, basically calling us a soft team," Jack said. "Over the course of the week we showed that's not the case. That was kind of the old stigma with the Golden State Warriors, but I think this group is an ultimate bunch."

He insisted he was referring not to the altercation but being tough on the road.

"Tough is being able to go on the road, withstand runs, mentally execute your plays and tune out this noisy crowd," he said.

The Jazz would make a second-quarter run, pulling within five after consecutive baskets by Millsap and a 3-pointer by Hayward.

But the Warriors hit two more 3s - by Jack and Thompson - to take a 49-37 halftime lead.

"The guy is an All-Star," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said of Curry. "There's no question about it. Playing at an elite level. Defending. Being a maestro for us on the offensive end. Attacking. It's great to see him healthy and being a catalyst for this basketball team in all the success we've had."

NOTES: Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, the Jazz hitting 15 of 41 shots and the Warriors 15 of 39. But Golden State made 7 of 9 from 3-point range, including 3 of 4 by Curry. The Jazz shot just 33.3 percent in the first quarter and 29 percent in the third. . The Jazz were outscored 16-0 on the break in the first half. . Wednesday's win was the Warriors' first in Salt Lake City since Feb. 16, 2011. . Utah committed 15 turnovers.

Notebook: Warriors 94, Jazz 83

Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:37 AM - Updated Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:37 AM

THE FACTS: Golden State has gone from road kill to road warriors in less than a season.

The Warriors drubbed the uninspired Utah Jazz 94-83 on Wednesday night to improve their road record to 11-6 this season. Golden State equaled its number of road victories from all of last season with the win.

Stephen Curry had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while David Lee had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Golden State, which is off to its best start since the 1991-92 season.

Al Jefferson had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah, which has dropped two straight home games for the first time this season.

QUOTABLE: "The guy's an All-Star. There's no question about it. Playing at an elite level. Defending. Being a maestro for us on the offensive end. Attacking. It's great to see him healthy and really being a catalyst for this basketball team and all the success we've had."
-- Warriors coach Mark Jackson on Curry

THE STAT: Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said before Wednesday night's game that Utah had to control tempo. That definitely did not happen. The run-and-gun Warriors played at their pace, outscoring the Jazz in fast-break points, 25-5. Utah couldn't get its fast break going or easy baskets with starting point guard Mo Williams out of the lineup. The Warriors, meanwhile, ran at will with Curry and Jarrett Jack leading the way.

TURNING POINT: The Warriors put the game away with a 12-2 run just before halftime. Klay Thompson scored for the first time in the game with two free throws to start the spurt, and later added a 3-pointer. Jack drained a 3-pointer, Lee hit a jumper and Curry sank two free throws during the run to put Golden State ahead, 49-37. Utah had momentum before the Warriors' run, getting within 35-30. That was as close as the Jazz would get as Gordon Hayward failed to keep Utah's surge going, missing two free throws. The Jazz didn't get within 10 points of Golden State until there were 33 seconds left in the game.

HOT: In the game's first four minutes, Curry outscored the Jazz by himself 11-7. Andris Biedrins had a season high in rebounds -- in the first half. He had 10 boards in 11 minutes in the first half, and finished with 12 rebounds. His previous season high was eight rebounds against Denver on Nov. 10. Enes Kanter's play was one of few bright spots for the Jazz. He shot 4-for-4 and scored 10 points off the bench.

NOT: Outside of Jefferson, the Jazz's starting lineup put together a lousy effort. Marvin Williams, Paul Millsap, Randy Foye and Jamaal Tinsley shot a combined 8-for-29 and scored 24 points. Williams has been mired in a slump, and he shot 1-for-6 for two points in nearly 19 minutes against Golden State.

QUOTABLE II: "There was some comments made about our basketball team, basically calling us a soft team. I think over the course of the season we've showed that's not the case. That was an old stigma. I'm not pointing to the altercation type of stuff. That's not being tough. Tough is being able to go on the road, withstand runs, mentally execute all your plays and tune out this noisy crowd that always seems to keep them in the game and still be able to come in here and be successful."
-- Jarrett Jack

GOOD MOVE: Golden State's man-to-man defense was effective, but its zone defense was even better. The Warriors' zone disrupted the Jazz, forcing them into sloppy execution and poor shot selection while taking them out of their offense. Golden State was alert and aggressive in its zone, forcing Utah to settle for jump shots and holding it to its season-low in points.

BAD MOVE: The Jazz pretty much followed a blueprint in how to lose to Golden State. They played at the Warriors' pace, but more importantly didn't play to their own strengths. They stopped moving on offense and stopped passing the ball down low. They took too many early shots against the zone.

NOTABLE: Kanter, Derrick Favors and Jack were each issued a technical foul for getting involved in a minor skirmish in the second quarter. Kanter swung his elbows at Carl Landry after he was fouled by him, and the two Georgia Tech products then got involved. Jack attempted to get in Kanter's face and Favors pushed him away before they had to be separated by all of the other players on the court. The Jazz tied a season low with 17 assists. Golden State improved to 14-1 when leading after the first quarter. Mo Williams didn't play because of a severely sprained right thumb. Jefferson did not play in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Friday vs. Philadelphia, Saturday vs. Boston, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers. For the Jazz, Friday vs. L.A. Clippers, Sunday @ L.A. Clippers, Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

• Warriors: Bogut, Rush
• Jazz: Bell, Murphy

• Warriors: Jack
• Jazz: Favors, Kanter

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #71 Rodney Mott, #60 James Williams, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 19404
• Duration: 2:05