:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44208430/usa-today-8216597.0.jpg)
Well, that was kind of expected, I suppose. Disappointing that the Jazz didn't have more fight in them tonight, but still not exactly shocking.
The Warriors are a very, very good team. Personally, I think that they and Memphis have been the most impressive teams thus far. And once they get going ... well, the game can get out of hand very, very quickly. Which it did.
The Jazz gunned things up from the beginning. Their first five possessions resulted in:
- Turnover
- Turnover
- Shot blocked
- Missed jumper
- Missed jumper
- Missed jumper
And just like that, they were down 12-0. And it would never get any closer.
I suppose there were mini ... um, not exactly victories. But mini not-outrageously-horribles performances. Gordon Hayward had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Derrick Favors nearly had a double-double. Enes Kanter hit most of his shots. Rudy Gobert's line looks really nice. The Jazz made a major garbage time run to come back from a 30 point deficit to cut it to 12 ... but it didn't matter. The game was never winnable.
Really, this shows a team still trying to become something. Once things get rough, it's easy for all the bad things to blow up all at once. And they did. Bad defense all around. Lots of turnovers from the starters (especially considering the minutes played). Alec Burks with no assists. Trey Burke shooting another 1-lots. No bench production from players not named Rudy.
On the Warriors' side, it was a game to pad the team's stats, but nobody else's. They didn't need anyone to have a great night ... everyone just kinda punched in, gave a normal performance for 20 minutes, and BOOM! Ball game. Nobody's stat line blows you away: just six guys in double figure scoring, but nothing that looks dominating (Iguodala's 17-3-1 line is the big stat line of the night).
But that's what makes a good team. They blow out lesser teams without even breaking a sweat.
And that happened tonight.
I'm hoping they can have some fire for tomorrow: a winnable game, but one that will take a very strong performance to do so.
Notes:
1. I can't stand Brandon Rush. It's nothing personal, just a sports thing. A Clemenate, if you will (read Joe Posnanski more if you don't know what Clemenate means: but it's a completely healthy fan kind of hate ... nothing personal, but just a fan-player kind of relationships that doesn't extend into anything real).
All I know is he laid a turd sandwich last year, and that he didn't even put in enough effort to wipe. He hated it on the Jazz from the moment he got here, moped and crapped his way through the entire season, and got on the first plane trip back to the Bay. I think Napoleon Dynamite is the only way to adequately describe him from Jazz fans' perspective:
So there.
2. How funny is it now, that the Jazz and Warriors were all frothing over that draft pick that turned out to be Harrison Barnes? From the Warriors' perspective, they tanked their way to their least important and least impressive starter (and definitely NOT among their top 5 players). SAVIOR!!!
From the Jazz perspective, that pick could have let us back up Mo Williams with Damian Lillard. Now, obviously Lillard's a great player and it's impossible to say how the team would be different now with him. But I like our odds with Exum. It just goes to show you that what seems crucially important one minute can turn out to be not nearly as earth-shattering.