Warriors-Jazz: Golden State Dismantles Utah

The Golden State Warriors showed why they are going to be a dangerous team and could quite possibly wreak havoc for teams looking for home-court advantage.

Especially with the way they played last night.

For most of the season the one complaint has been the lack of passing and getting teammates involved.

That problem was definitely addressed last night.

Seven out of the nine players the Warriors had on the court were in double figures in points.  Corey Maggette lead the way with 24 points, Stephen Jackson put in 20, and Kelenna Azubuike put in an efficient 16 points.

The Warriors had 24 assists on 41 made field goals. Which lead to the Warriors shooting 52 percent from the floor.

One play stood out from the others it was a sequence of passes. It lead to an Azubuike dunk.

Kelenna Azubuike ran under the basket went out of bounds came back in as Stephen Jackson caught a pass for what normally would have been a shot Jackson would take but instead made a pass to Azubuike for an easy dunk.

Jackson did not shoot very well for the game from the floor or the free throw line, but even with that he contributed eight assists and 10 rebounds.  He nearly had a second triple double in three games.

Jamal Crawford had an off game from the floor as well, going 2-6 from the floor, but he also had six assists to go along with his 11 points—including a great feed to the streaking Monta Ellis for an easy layup.

The Warriors did get outrebounded by the Jazz by seven, but with Biedrins out that was expected. At one point though the Jazz held a 30-19 advantage. Meaning after that point in time the Warriors outrebounded the Jazz 15-14.

With the added emphasis on rebounding the Warriors were able to hold Paul Milsap at bay. Milsap finished the game 4-12 for only 8 points and 6 boards. Meaning Milsap got outrebounded by Jackson and tied with Azubuike.

The Warriors also got some great minutes from Anthony Randolph which allowed Ronny Turiaf to rest for a few minutes in the first half. Randolph immediately contributed with two points, four rebounds, and a block.

The block happened because Randolph was out of position on a rebound, but he was able to recover and block the shot. Randolph also had an easy dunk during garbage time where he anticipated the passing lane and was able to go for an uncontested dunk. He did however show his rookie side by taking the ball all the way down and shooting an air ball.

The only complaint that can be stated is Turiaf's lack of rebounding. He needs to come up with more than three rebounds—but that can be worked on, and his aggressiveness on defense is contagious.

Overall this was a solid victory for the Warriors. Even though Deron Williams scored 31 points and dished out 10 assists the Warriors forced Williams into six turnovers.