Sometimes all you really need is one splash brother. Certainly he would ideally have two, but it's not necessary. On Sunday night, all the Golden State Warriors needed was one of the Hall of Fame duo against a Utah Jazz team that has already turned its attention to the offseason.
With Stephen Curry rested, the Warriors turned to Klay Thompson on Sunday, and he had a great performance. However, it took several minutes for the Warriors' machine to get going. Down two starters (Andrew Wiggins was out with an ankle injury), the Dubs started with a new lineup of Chris Paul, Brandin Podzemski, Thompson, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Thompson and Jackson-Davis found an early rhythm working together — what's new? — but the Dubs struggled defensively.
Then the clay caught fire. And as he did so, Green began to put on a defensive clinic. Thompson dropped 11 of the team's first 23 points, Green seemingly wiped everything away in the paint, and the Warriors took a 30-19 lead even though Utah fought back.
That prompted Steve Kerr, who was clearly looking to rest the veterans, to throw out rookies Jackson Davis, Podzemski, Gui Santos and third-year pro Moses Moody while the Warriors were still in the first quarter. He decided to play with the youngest lineup. and Jonathan Kuminga. Surprisingly, someone in that lineup held serve and ended the quarter with a 41-28 lead thanks to a running three from Poziemski at the buzzer.
The scores fluctuated from there, but never felt close. Utah scored a run early in the second quarter following Johnny Juzang, who came out of nowhere and made his first five threes… Kerr called a timeout just minutes into the frame and took the lead. decreased to 9 points.
It was a successful timeout, and within minutes the Dubs took a 10-0 lead, and a short time later the lead increased to 20 points. Utah outscored Golden State 13-2 late in the second quarter for an extra point, but the Warriors still led 68-54 at the break. Clay lit up Chase Center with 25 points in the first half, while Kuminga returned from injury with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and eight rebounds.
The fear always is: Are we going to see a vintage third-quarter Warriors, or are we going to see a group of people in the locker room who have forgotten how to play basketball? I didn't really know about the former, and I certainly didn't know about the latter either. The Dubs never got complacent after the break, and Thompson continued to put shots on net. The Jazz caught up again – they accomplished a lot – but Kerr once again turned to some young players and they once again pushed the lead in the right direction. At the end of the third quarter, it was 97-77.
The fourth quarter didn't go as planned, but it wasn't the disaster we've seen so many times. Utah got within 12 points multiple times, but at the midway point they had some leeway and Kerr switched to a defensive position to close out the game. This and some shots that nailed his CP3 coffin sealed the match.
But even though the outcome was decided, the Jazz didn't stop fighting. Utah's garbage time unit greatly outplayed Golden State's team, making the final score 118-110, but it didn't represent how comfortably the Warriors won.
Thompson had 32 points, five rebounds and four assists, making 12 of 23 from the field and 6 of 13 from deep. Kuminga finished with an impressive 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Fortunately back in the win column after Friday's heartbreaking loss, the Dubs head to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Tuesday…and it should be a very good game.
