Warriors Should Protect Home Court Against Jazz
Entering the 2017 NBA Playoffs as overwhelming favorites to win the Western Conference for a third straight year, the Golden State Warriors have only enhanced the belief that they will cruise to the NBA Finals. They’ve won their first five games of the postseason, and that winning streak should be extended to six when they host the Utah Jazz in Game 2 of their second-round series Thursday night.
Anyone that picked the Warriors to win the title has to be feeling pretty confident with their prediction through the first few weeks of the postseason. Golden State swept the Portland Trail Blazers with an average margin of victory of 18 points in the first round, and they defeated the Jazz by 12 points in the series opener. The Warriors are 12.5-point favorites in Game 2, via OddsShark.
The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t even double-digit favorites in their two home games against the Toronto Raptors, but Golden State has been too dominant to make the betting line any lower. They ended the season with 15 victories (12 by at least 10 points) in 16 games, and Kevin Durant only suited up for the final three contests.
With head coach Steve Kerr still gone from the team with symptoms from back surgery, the Warriors didn’t miss a beat Tuesday night. They defeated the Jazz 106-94 at Oracle Arena, leading by at least 10 points for more than 23 minutes of the 24-minute second half.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry shoots a layup against the Utah Jazz during the second half in Game 1 of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena on May 2, 2017 in Oakland, California. Photo: Reuters/Ezra Shaw-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
Utah is known for their defense, and they’ll have to slow down the pace in order to have any chance of beating the Warriors on their home floor. A game in the triple-digits that exceeds the over/under of 204.5 is playing right into Golden State’s hands.
Most importantly, the Jazz need big performances from their top scorers, which they didn’t get in the series opener. Joe Johnson scored just 11 points on four-of-10 shooting and Gordon Hayward had his worst game of the postseason. Averaging 23.7 points in the seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers, the forward managed to put up just 12 points on 15 shots Tuesday night.
Only two teams scored fewer points per game in the regular season than Utah, and Hayward accounted for more than 20 percent of their scoring. No matter how good their defense is, the Jazz can only win if Hayward performs like a star.
But even that probably won’t be enough Thursday night. The Warriors have too many weapons with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all capable of putting up big numbers.
Durant didn’t play particularly well by his standards in Game 1, scoring 17 points on seven-of-17 shooting. He was picked up by Curry (22 points on seven-of-11 shooting) and Green (17 points on five-of-10 shooting), and all of Golden State’s “Big Four” scored at least 15 points.
Maybe the Jazz will be able to steal a game when the series moves to Utah, considering the Warriors have failed to sweep their second-round series in each of the last two years. Game 2, however, should be more of the same for the NBA’s best team.
Prediction: Golden State over Utah, 108-93
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