Durant scores 38 points, Warriors beat Jazz to take 3-0 lead.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant had 38 points and 13 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 102-91 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were a combined 7 for 29 from the field and 3 for 15 from 3-point range, leaving Durant to lead the Warriors.
The Jazz led 75-74 early in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors went on a 10-4 run and never trailed again. Curry and Durant hit back to back 3ss to give Golden State a 92-84 lead with 3:04 left.
Curry finished with 23 points on 6-for-20 shooting.
Gordon Hayward led Utah with 29 points. Rudy Gobert added 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Game 4 is Monday night in Utah.
The Warriors got out to a quick start, again, and led by 10 after the first quarter.
Utah survived the firsthalf onslaught by Durant, who had 22 points and six rebounds at the break. There wasn’t much the Jazz could do to contend a flurry of turnaround fadeaways, drives to the basket and a pair of 3s. Golden State, however, didn’t get much help otherwise and Draymond Green dealt with foul trouble.
The Jazz took a 50-49 lead into halftime after closing the second quarter on a 12-5 run highlighted by Rodney Hood’s 3-pointer triple that gave the Jazz their first lead of the series at 48-47.
Green picked up a technical arguing from the bench late in the second quarter after being whistled for his third foul of the half. As the crowd roared, he gave a 2-0 hand gesture to indicate the series record.
The Jazz led by nine in the third quarter, but Curry began to warm up and hit his first 3-pointer of the game on a pullup in transition. Golden State closed the quarter on a 19-8 stretch to take a 72-70 lead.