After the Golden State Warriors took game one of the Western Conference Semi-Finals with ease, the Utah Jazz looked to bounce back. While the Jazz fought, the Warriors offense proved to be too much once again as the Warriors won by a score of 115-104.
Draymond Green led Golden State’s offense in the first quarter by hitting his first four three-pointers of the game. The Warriors offense was on full display as everyone was getting involved early on. The team out of the Bay Area recorded an assist on nine of their first ten field goals, and they shot just under 61 percent from the floor for the quarter. Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with five shots but was only able to hit one of them, and the Jazz fell to a 15-33 lead after one quarter.
Draymond Green blocks the Gobert oop then drains the triple on the other end#DubNation pic.twitter.com/WYko3WV0As
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 5, 2017
After shooting a lowly 27.8 percent in the first quarter, Utah was able to hit their stride — the only problem was the Warriors offense is unstoppable. Golden State was able to bring their lead up to 20, but Utah immediately went on an 8-0 run to stop the bleeding. The Warriors still out-rebounded the Jazz 21-15 and assisted on 19 of their 25 baskets, so the Jazz were only able to win the second quarter by five.
Joe Johnson started the third quarter with a three, and the Jazz were within striking distance at ten points. After a Rudy Gobert put-back slam brought the lead down to eight, Golden State decided it was getting too close. In a matter of minutes, they were back up by 16. Utah was again able to go on a run to bring the lead down to eight, but Golden State scored a last second bucket putting the lead back at ten heading into the final quarter.
The final quarter of the second game of the series was par for the course. The Jazz just couldn’t get over the six-point hump. The Warriors would allow their opponent to get close, and then they would go on a run to keep their lead safe. While Gordon Hayward shot himself out of the first quarter slump, he just wasn’t enough to bring the Jazz back, and Golden State walked off of the court victorious.
Hayward led Utah with 33 points on 11-21 shooting, and Gobert helped out by scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as well. Shelvin Mack, George Hill’s replacement, scored 14 points on 11 shots, and Rodney Hood really struggled with his shot, shooting 4-13 from the field.
After a measly start, the Jazz ended the game with a field goal percentage of 45.2 percent and they also shot 37.5 percent from three. They weren’t bad from the free-throw line, either, going 16-20.
Kevin Durant was the scoring leader for Golden State by putting up 25 points on just 13 shots, and he also had 11 rebounds, seven assists, one block, one steal, and only one turnover. After a hot start, Green ended his night with 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, one block, and one trip to the locker room for a knee injury (he’s fine). Klay Thompson also took 13 shots, but only scored 14 points — he also chipped in six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Lastly, Curry was 8-15 from the field, good for 23 points, and he included four rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.
The Warriors shot 49.4 percent for the entire night, which included going 45.2 percent from three, and 85 percent from the free throw line. They ended up assisting on 33 of their 42 made shots and out-rebounded the Jazz 47-39. The worst part of their game was turning the ball over 17 times, but it didn’t hurt them too much.
The third game of the series will be played in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The Utah Jazz will do their best to give the Golden State Warriors their first loss of the playoffs and to help make the series closer.
