Written by Chris Haynes at ESPN.com
The Golden State Warriors swept the Utah Jazz to advance to the Western Conference finals for the third consecutive year, following a 121-95 victory on Monday night.
Along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Warriors are a perfect 8-0 this postseason. It is the second time that two teams have been undefeated entering the conference finals under the current playoff format (since 1983-84).
It is the first time the Warriors have swept two series in a postseason and the first time they have swept back-to-back series. Utah was stifled all evening, shooting a postseason-low 37.1 percent from the field.
“I thought for the most part we were in tune with what our coverages needed to be,” acting head coach Mike Brown said. “One of the things we kept telling our guys: We didn’t want them to be comfortable offensively. We wanted to get up into them and force the issue.”
Stephen Curry produced a game-high 30 points to go with five rebounds and seven assists. He was 4-for-10 from beyond the arc and connected on all eight of his free throws.
Klay Thompson chipped in 21 points to bounce back from a 1-for-9 shooting night in Game 3. Kevin Durant followed his 38-point Game 3 by adding 18 points and six boards.
Draymond Green registered his third career postseason triple-double by way of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He also was a dominating force defensively. Opponents were 5-for-15 from the field when he guarded them, and he defended the most shots for the Warriors on Monday.
“We got the best defender in the league. You can’t really pick on him. He’s 6-4, 6-3 maybe,” Durant said, jokingly misrepresenting Green’s height. “But playing the center position, you still can’t pick on him. You can’t throw the ball in the post and expect to get a basket or go at him on pick-and-rolls. He can switch out on them. I think that’s what starts our defensive intensity — it starts with him.”
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