Rested Warriors come out roaring in opener
OAKLAND, California — Stephen Curry pulled off a razzle-dazzle spin move right around big Rudy Gobert at the perimeter, went in for a layup and raised his hands, urging the sellout crowd to do its thing.
The Golden State Warriors sure did theirs, using their up-tempo, pass-happy style to pound the Utah Jazz 106-94 in Tuesday’s Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal.
Curry scored 22 points in three quarters of work and the top-seeded Warriors warmed up in a hurry after a week-long layoff between playoff games.
“I’ll keep enjoying it. I feel like I have one of the better seats in the house and I’m not even paying for it,” fill-in Warriors head coach Mike Brown said when asked about Curry’s slick moves.
Draymond Green scored Golden State’s first six points of the fourth quarter and wound up with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two more blocks to bring his remarkable five-game playoff swat total to 19.
Kevin Durant added 17 points on an uncharacteristically cold shooting night at 7 for 17 and had five rebounds and five assists. He missed the middle two games against Portland because of a strained left calf then returned for 20 minutes in Game 4.
Zaza Pachulia scored 10 points in 14 minutes.
Gobert had 13 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a Flagrant 1 foul on Green in the fourth for the Jazz, who just finished off the Clippers in a seven-game series last Sunday while the Warriors waited after eliminating Portland on April 24.
“We picked up right where we left off,” Curry said. “We weren’t making shots early on, but our defense really gave us an opportunity to find that flow, and that’s what you need in the playoffs.”
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Thursday night back at Oracle Arena, where it was a night of nostalgia as Golden State honored its 2007 “We Believe” team that ended a 13-year playoff drought and stunned Dallas in the opening round.
Green insisted it might take the Warriors a quarter or so to find their rhythm after the lengthy layoff. They weren’t sharp from 3-point range while going 7 for 29, with Klay Thompson making three of those on the way to 15 points.
The methodical, slow-you-down Jazz, in their first playoff in five years, couldn’t keep pace in transition.
“If you’re not urgent enough, they just punish you for it,” said Utah coach Quin Snyder.
The Warriors outscored the Jazz 29-6 on the break and committed only seven turnovers, matching a franchise playoff low.
“They’re a fast-breaking team and we’re basically not,” said Utah’s Joe Johnson.
Brown guided the Warriors as they are missing reigning NBA Coach of the Year Steve Kerr, who wasn’t at the arena as he deals with complications from two back surgeries nearly two years ago.
Fitting
It was fitting that much of the “We Believe” team was in the house one day shy of the 10-year anniversary of eighthseeded Golden State’s firstround upset of the top-seeded Mavericks.
“We all had something to prove. We believed in each other and we wanted each other to prove people wrong,” Stephen Jackson said.
After the upset win over Dallas, it was Jazz-Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals and Utah won in five games.
Current Golden State forward Matt Barnes was part of that team, and he checked in with four minutes remaining to a rousing ovation after being sidelined since April 8 with a sprained right foot and bone bruise.