Written by Tony Jones at Salt Lake City Tribune.com
The Jazz are not beaten in their second-round series against the Golden State Warriors, even if many were writing them off following Utah’s 106-94 loss Tuesday night in Game 1 at Oracle Arena.
But if the series opener was a feeling out process for the Jazz, they now know they have a long way to go if they want to be competitive with the Warriors over the long haul.
These guys aren’t the Clippers.
The Jazz missed too many open shots. They turned the ball over too many times. They didn’t offer enough resistance defensively. They surrendered way too many points to a lethal Golden State team that was happy to capitalize on Utah’s miscues.
It added up to a wire-to-wire loss for the Jazz. Utah never led, the game was never tied, and the Warriors had an easy time in cruising to their fifth consecutive win to start the postseason.
“They got a lot of points in transition,” Jazz forward Boris Diaw said. “They got too many open shots and open baskets. It’s one game, but we have to play a lot better.”
Tuesday wasn’t one big Golden State body blow to the Jazz. Instead, the Warriors’ win looked more like death by a thousand cuts.
Already up 27-21, Golden State scored 12 of the first 16 points of the second quarter to increase the spread to 39-25. That was the Warriors’ first major run, which led to their first double-digit lead.
A 7-0 run in the third quarter — after the Jazz trimmed their deficit — turned a 61-54 advantage into 68-54. Then, the Warriors went on a 12-3 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter, turning an 84-73 lead into a 96-76 advantage.
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