By David Locke, utahjazz.com
*** The Warriors are fabulous. They are statistically one of the great teams the NBA has seen. They are one of 7 teams with a differential over 10. They are #1 in FG% and DFG%. They are #1 in defensive efficiency and #2 in offensive efficiency (a good game away from #1). They look every bit the part when you see them in person. *** The Jazz fought hard. They stayed in the game for most of the night but the Warriors are on a totally different level. The Warriors hit you with their explosion and the game is over. Tonight they hit the Jazz and the Jazz fought back to get into the game but it never felt as though the Warriors weren’t in control or were in any trouble. *** The Warriors defensive game plan was great. Bogut would be in the restricted area while Gobert had the ball outside the three point line and they wouldn’t worry about it at all. Steph Curry didn’t guard Dante Exum. Curry leaked over into every play never fearing Dante would do anything. This is exactly how someone should guard the Jazz right now. The impact is no room for Gordon and every offensive possession becomes a sludge. *** Rodney Hood was very good. He is doing some nice things offensively. He is figuring out how to get where wants to on the floor. How to hold his ground and when to go and catch. Hood went 9 for 14 without making a three pointer he finished with 19 points.
*** Trey Burke was an offensive savior from the three point line. Burke hit 5 of his 11 three point attempts. *** The Warriors exposed the Jazz weaknesses. The speed made some of the players look slow. Their physical presence made some of them look weak and moveable. This is what great teams do. They play with such force and pace that they expose where your weaknesses are and that is what happened to a few of the Jazz players. *** Favors was nice in around the rim and hit his first three pointer of his career. Favors really battled inside and worked insanely hard on defense getting switched out on Curry on numerous possessions. The role of playing the power forward is causing Favors to move a great deal more than as the center and the fatigue factor has to be higher. *** Gordon Hayward was clearly affected by the fall in LA. He was not himself. He was not quick and didn’t have any explosion. *** Rudy Gobert had a limited impact on the game *** In the first quarter the Jazz only allowed 3 field goals in the half court and allowed 4 in the fast break. But as the game went on the Warriors started scoring in the half court as well. The Warriors are a lot like the Oregon Ducks football team relentlessly coming at you. They come fast and with lots of weapons and it has to wear you out as the game goes on. Defensively they rotate perfectly and are always in the correct area. *** The Warriors top 7 minutes players from last year are back this year and that allows them to have terrific continuity to everything they do even with a new coaching staff. *** Warriors average 110 points, they got 106. They average 25 fast break points at home, they got 25. The Jazz defense was not able to have an impact on the Warriors. *** This was a great test and reminder of where the Jazz want to go and how far away it is. The Warriors are the elite team in the NBA. No one else is close. They are 33-2 at home. The Jazz battled played with the Warriors but never for a moment had a chance to win. This was a great reminder of how long the road still is going to be for the Jazz to the elite of the NBA