Kevin Durant hit a backbreaking 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, scored 38 points and led the Warriors to a 102-91 Game 3 victory in Utah.
Golden State has now won all seven of their playoff games and every game against the Jazz by double-digits. Should they sweep Utah on Monday, it’ll setup another bye week scenario while the Spurs and Rockets duke it out in the other Western Conference semifinal.
The Jazz played their best game of the series by far. They overcame an early 11-point deficit and turned a Draymond Green technical foul into a 22-9 run in the second and third quarter. Green was whistled for arguing with an official from the sidelines and also toyed with the Utah crowd, flashing up two fingers and a zero, in reference to the series lead. The Jazz took their first lead of the series in the second quarter. Efficient play and the home crowd had Utah on the cusp of an upset. Because some major factors did go their way.
The Warriors survived the game even with the Splash Brothers starting a combined 3-for-20 from the field. Steph Curry didn’t hit his first 3 until late in the third quarter and missed 10 shots in a row at one point. Klay Thompson shot 1-for-9 from the field and has surprisingly struggled some this series. Amazingly, Curry still finished with 23 points.
Meanwhile, Durant slowly sliced apart Utah’s defense. The sprawling forward shot over and around the Jazz on 15-for-26 shooting with an array of isolations and pick-and-rolls. This was by far his best game of the post season. This type of performance is exactly why Bob Myers moved the ground and earth to acquire him. As the broadcast pointed out, this is only the eighth game Durant has played in the last two months. He looks refreshed. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and played strong defense.
JaVale McGee played key minutes down the stretch over Iguodala against Rudy Gobert and the move paid off. McGee was +17 while only scoring 2 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Gobert himself was a menace on both ends of the floor, finishing with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Iguodala played well, finishing with 11 points in 27 minutes. Green finally cooled off from behind the line, posting a 9 point, 10 rebound, 5 assist line.
Game 4 is Monday at 6 p.m. PT.
