Warriors 102, Jazz 88
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors held Utah to 27.3 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter while building a 14-point lead and never looked back en route to a 102-88 victory over the Jazz on Saturday night.
The win was the Warriors' fifth in a row at home, all of which have come against an opponent that played the night before while Golden State enjoyed the night off. The Warriors' average margin of victory in those five wins is 15 points.
Klay Thompson had 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting fromt he field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, for the Warriors (7-3), who led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and then never by fewer than seven in the second half.
All five Warriors starters scored in double figures. Andre Iguodala backed Thompson with 16 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Golden State went 9 of 21 from beyond the 3-point arc as a team.
Stephen Curry added 15 points, David Lee scored 13, Andrew Bogut posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and reserve Harrison Barnes had 11 points.
Utah's best run came early in the third quarter when Richard Jefferson, John Lucas III and Gordon Hayward buried 3-pointers on successive possessions in a 9-2 burst that cut a 17-point deficit to 55-45 with 9:03 left in the quarter.
Hayward hit another 3-pointer a little more than three minutes later, getting Utah within 61-54. But Thompson countered with a 3-pointer of his own in a 9-2 Warriors run late in the quarter that reopened a 14-point advantage.
Utah got no closer than 10 in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors might have suffered a key loss early in the fourth quarter when backup center Jermaine O'Neal slipped and appeared to strain his right groin. He had to be helped from the court, taken straight to the locker room in serious pain.
Derrick Favors had 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Jazz (1-10), which lost its sixth consecutive road game.points.
Hayward and Marvin Williams had 14 points apiece for the Jazz, Jefferson added 12 and Enes Kanter contributed 10. Utah overcame its sluggish start to shoot 45.5 percent from the field for the game.
The Jazz were coming off a hard-fought, 91-82 home loss to San Antonio on Friday night, and its first-quarter shooting showed the fatigue. Favors hit four of his six shots from the field in the quarter, but his teammates went just 2 of 16 as the Warriors pulled away.
Golden State also enjoyed a 16-9 rebounding edge in the quarter.
The Warriors held the Jazz scoreless during a 5:25 span in the heart of the quarter, during which they extended an 8-6 lead to 19-6. All five Golden State starters had a hoop in the 11-point run, with Iguodala doing the most damage with a 3-pointer.
NOTES: Jazz SF Marvin Williams played despite suffering a fractured nose in a run-in with San Antonio C Tim Duncan in Friday's loss. Williams donned a makeshift face mask when he first entered the game but later discarded it. He will be fitted for an upscale model before Monday's rematch with the Warriors. ... The home-and-home is Golden State's only such sequence this season. The Jazz also will face the Phoenix Suns (Nov. 29-30) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (Jan. 18-21) under those circumstances later this season. ... The game served as a homecoming of sorts for Jazz SF Richard Jefferson, SG Brandon Rush and C Andris Biedrins, all of whom were with the Warriors last season. They were sent to Utah (along with two first-round and two second-round draft picks) in the off-season, three-team trade that brought SF Andre Iguodala to the Warriors from Denver. ... Biedrins, who took over the franchise's career leader in field-goal percentage (59.4) during his nine seasons with the Warriors, sat out Saturday's game with a sprained left ankle. ... Asked his lasting impression of Jefferson, Rush and Biedrins as Warriors, Golden State coach Mark Jackson said, "They made me look good, so I will forever be grateful."
