Donovan Mitchell, Jazz Use Dominant Defense to Blow Out Stephen Curry, Warriors
The Utah Jazz have won four straight games after crushing the visiting Golden State Warriors 111-85 on Wednesday at Salt Lake City's Vivint Arena.
Jazz wing Bojan Bogdanovic led all scorers with 23 points. Donovan Mitchell finished two assists shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight dimes.
Hassan Whiteside led a tremendous defensive effort with seven blocks in addition to his nine points and 17 rebounds.
Utah outscored Golden State 56-36 in the second half and held the Dubs to 35.9 percent shooting. The Jazz also outscored Golden State 48-20 in the paint.
Golden State played without shooting guard Klay Thompson (rest). The five-time All-Star played a season-high 29 minutes on Monday as he continues his comeback after missing two years with ACL and Achilles injuries.
The Warriors also were without Draymond Green, who has missed 16 straight games with a lower back injury.
This marked Utah's first game since ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on a three-team deal involving the Jazz, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
Utah will reportedly receive Nickeil Alexander-Walker from the Blazers and San Antonio Spurs forward Juancho Hernagomez in exchange for Joe Ingles and Elijah Hughes, who are headed to Portland. Utah is also sending a 2022 second-round pick to Portland and a 2027 second-rounder to the Spurs.
Neither of Utah's additions suited up Wednesday. The Jazz also played without Rudy Gobert (left calf strain) for the eighth straight game.
The 34-21 Jazz have bounced back strong in response to a five-game losing streak and currently hold down the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference.
The 41-14 Warriors' nine-game win streak broke with the loss.
Notable Performances
Warriors G Jordan Poole: 18 points
Warriors G Stephen Curry: 16 points, 7 rebounds
Warriors F Andrew Wiggins: 13 points
Jazz F Bogdan Bogdanovic: 23 points, 6 rebounds
Jazz G Donovan Mitchell: 14 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists
Jazz C Hassan Whiteside: 9 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks
Led By Whiteside, Jazz Defense Overwhelms Warriors
The Jazz allowed 13 points in the first three minutes of this game. They proceeded to hold the Warriors to 72 points over the last 45 minutes as the Jazz dominated on the defensive end.
Whiteside set the tone when he entered the game in the first quarter. Soon afterward, he stole the ball from Stephen Curry, and Trent Forrest picked it up for a bucket the other way.
Whiteside ultimately amassed five blocks before the second quarter was three minutes old.
He was a catalyst for the team's turnaround after the Jazz found themselves in an early hole.
The big man didn't make a huge offensive impact, but he made the most of his opportunities by shooting 4-of-5 for his nine points:
He even flirted with a triple-double and was asked about that postgame:
The Jazz ended up outscoring the Warriors by 35 points with Whiteside on the court. Simply put, he was this game's MVP as Utah cruised to victory.
Blip on the Radar for Warriors; Kuminga Excels
Games like Wednesday's ugly loss have been very few and far between this year. It's only the 10th time in which Golden State scored fewer than 100 points and the third occasion where the Dubs had under 90.
Given that the team was (a) shorthanded, (b) playing on the road, (c) facing a very good team on a winning streak and (d) have been in great form prior to Wednesday, there isn't much to be overly concerned about. It's just one bad game amid what's been an excellent three-week stretch.
If there's one positive to take away, it's the continued good play from rookie Jonathan Kuminga, who entered Wednesday averaging 17.7 points in 26.0 minutes over his last three games.
He continued to showcase his tremendous potential and added 12 more points off the bench, including a pair of threes:
Kuminga's tremendous athleticism was on display again as he seemingly floated en route this dunk:
It's hard to take away anything good from twenty-six point losses, but it's easy to see why Kuminga might end up being a central piece to this team's future over the next decade-plus. For now, he's an excellent bench contributor for a championship-contending team and a potential postseason X-factor.
What's Next?
Both teams will play at home next.
Golden State will welcome the New York Knicks into San Francisco's Chase Center on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
Utah will host the Orlando Magic on Friday at 9 p.m.
