The Warriors’ winning streak was brought to an end after Golden State fell 105-99 to the visiting Utah Jazz on Monday night. Stephen Curry led all scorers with 28 points and Kevin Durant filled the stat sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but the Jazz pulled away in the final minutes to secure the victory. With the loss, the Warriors drop to 66-15 on the season heading into their final regular season game on Wednesday.
GAME LEADERS
Golden State and Utah entered Monday’s game with the second and third ranked defenses in the league, respectively, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell by the way it started. Both teams made five of their first six shot attempts, as Draymond Green’s three-pointer at the 8:29 mark of the opening quarter pulled the Warriors within 16-13. The Dubs would trail for the entire frame until an 8-2 Golden State run capped by a Stephen Curry score gave the Warriors a momentary 28-27 lead with 3:10 remaining in the quarter. The two sides would play it even the rest of the way, as Golden State would hold a 33-32 advantage at the end of one. All 12 of the Warriors’ first quarter field goals came by way of an assist, marking the Warriors' first perfect shooting quarter on shots with an assist opportunity this season.
Eventually, though, the defenses settled in, as both teams had a much tougher time scoring throughout the remainder of the contest. David West opened the second quarter with a jumper, but the Jazz responded with 13-straight points to take their largest lead of the entire night at 45-35 with 7:46 left in the half. Golden State would answer back with a 9-0 burst of their own, however, and would pull back in front on Curry’s three-pointer at the 1:39 mark. A Zaza Pachulia layup and two Rudy Gobert free throws would close out the scoring in the frame, as the Warriors took a slim 51-49 lead into halftime.
Golden State would outscore Utah 4-0 in the opening minute of the second half, but that would prove to be their largest lead of the entire night. The Jazz would go on to build a six-point lead of their own later in the third quarter, and the two sides would head into the fourth and final frame knotted at 74-74.
Kevin Durant scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, after which Joe Johnson responded with five of his own to put the Jazz back in front. The game would see four more lead changes in the remainder of the frame until Shelvin Mack’s three-point play with 6:37 left in the contest gave Utah the lead for good. Durant had subbed out of the game a minute prior and Curry sat out the entire fourth quarter, leaving the Dubs without the firepower to climb all the way back in the final minutes. James Michael McAdoo’s three-pointer would pull Golden State within 96-94 with 2:09 left to play, but that’s as close as they’d get before Utah finished off the eventual 105-99 victory.
With the loss, the Warriors drop to 66-15 on the season. They’ll now finish off their regular season slate on Wednesday when they host the Los Angeles Lakers.