NBA News Wire
Warriors 101, Jazz 88
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors opened the game on a 12-0 flurry and never looked back Friday night, thumping the Utah Jazz 101-88 for their fourth straight victory.
Four Warriors starters scored in double figures and the fifth, point guard Stephen Curry, contributed 10 assists as Golden State improved its record to 9-2, its best season-opening mark since 1972-73.
Curry and shooting guard Klay Thompson dropped in 3-pointers and small forward Harrison Barnes had a pair of hoops in the early runaway that propelled Golden State to its fifth consecutive win over the Jazz.
Playing their eighth road game of the season, the Jazz (5-8) missed their first five shots and mixed in three turnovers in a game-opening drought that lasted 4 minutes, 7 seconds.
Center Enes Kanter’s jumper got Utah on the board at the 7:53 mark, but the Jazz got no closer than eight and found itself down by 16 points, 24-8, before breaking into double figures in the 11th minute of the period.
The Warriors led by as many as 17 in the first quarter, 25 in the second and 30 in the third en route to their seventh victory by a double-digit margin this season.
Reserve swingman Andre Iguodala led the Warriors with a season-best 17 points, connecting on seven of his eight shots. Fellow reserve Marreese Speights totaled 14 points.
Thompson and Barnes were the high scorers among Warriors starters with 14 points apiece. Center Andrew Bogut had 12 points and power forward Draymond Green 11.
Barnes completed a double-double with 11 rebounds.
The Warriors, who have outshot all 11 opponents this season, connected on 50 percent of their shots. Utah shot 42.7 percent.
Kanter had a team-high 18 points for the Jazz, which fell to 2-6 on the road.
Small forward Gordon Hayward and backup big man Rudy Gobert added 12 points apiece for the Jazz, and power forward Derrick Favors chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
The loss was the sixth of the year by 10 or more points for Utah.
NOTES: The game marked the initial head-to-head meeting of first-year coaches Quin Snyder of the Jazz and Steve Kerr of the Warriors. They met once as college basketball players in 1987, with Kerr contributing nine points to Arizona’s 91-85 win over Duke. Snyder had six points and six assists for the Blue Devils. … When the Warriors beat the Jazz in the season series last year, it was just the third time that’s happened in the past 20 years. … Both teams entered the game fresh. The Jazz hadn’t played since a home win over Oklahoma City on Tuesday; the Warriors had four days off after beating the Los Angeles Lakers on the road last Sunday. … The Jazz were playing their eighth road game of the season, the second-most in the league. They get six of their next seven at home. … The Warriors tip off a five-game trip Sunday at Oklahoma City. They’ll also make their annual visits to Miami, Orlando, Charlotte and Detroit on the eight-day venture.
