Warriors Waltz Past Jazz to Finish Sweep as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green Shine

While the rest of the playoff teams are busy battling each other, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are sweeping their way toward a potential third straight NBA Finals matchup.

Golden State joined Cleveland at 8-0 in the playoffs Monday when it finished its sweep of the Utah Jazz with a 121-95 victory at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Warriors clinched their third consecutive trip to the Western Conference Finals in the process.  

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 30 points, but the win was a testament to Golden State's unbeatable array of playmakers. Draymond Green notched a triple-double, and Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson got in on the scoring fun:

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Field Goals	Three-Pointers
Stephen Curry	30	5	7	9-of-15	4-of-10
Draymond Green	17	10	11	5-of-11	3-of-5
Kevin Durant	18	6	5	7-of-14	2-of-4
Klay Thompson	21	2	1	9-of-16	1-of-3

The Jazz played without the injured George Hill and announced they lost Rodney Hood to a knee sprain late in the game. As a result, they turned to Gordon Hayward (25 points), Rudy Gobert (12 points and 13 rebounds), Shelvin Mack (18 points) and Dante Exum (15 points) to spearhead an attack that came up short.

Warriors Unleash Their Arsenal of Weapons

Stopping NBA All-Stars is much easier said than done. Stopping four is nearly impossible.

The Warriors' four All-Stars each carried the offense for stretches during Monday's victory. Curry's early scoring and lightning quick ball-handling created space for his teammates, which Green exploited with his shooting and passing. The fact Durant (18 points) and Thompson (21 points) were left as secondary scorers underscores just how difficult it was for Utah to keep up Monday.

Shea Serrano of The Ringer put Utah's problem into perspective:

Nothing illustrated Golden State's incredible depth more than the first quarter when it exploded for a 39-17 lead, even though Durant didn't score a single point. Curry led the way with 14, while Thompson added eight and Green started his march toward a triple-double.

Marcus Thompson of the Mercury News pointed to specific motivation:

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report and Sean Wagner-McGough of CBS Sports viewed Golden State's early dominance from different perspectives:

The Jazz bounced back and made a game of it by pulling within six multiple times in the third quarter, but one of Golden State's four superstars had an answer with a timely three or slash to the lane whenever the home team was set to make a charge.

Back-to-back threes from Curry and Andre Iguodala (off a head-turning assist from Green) pushed an 87-79 advantage to 93-79 heading to the fourth and all but ended the series.

Gordon Hayward's Comeback Efforts Fall Short

The Warriors boast the top defensive rating in the playoffs, per NBA.com, and held Utah to 17 points on 24 percent shooting in the first quarter. Quite simply, the game should have been over right there.

But Hayward dragged Utah's offense back from the dead. The Jazz cut an early 41-17 deficit to just eight by the half and were right there through most of the third quarter thanks largely to Hayward's 25 points and four triples.

Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune noted Utah's leader was in fine company:

Hayward wasn't alone, as Mack, Gobert and Exum provided challenges to the Warriors at various times. Utah impressed FanRag Sports NBA with its ability to hang tough against the two-time defending Western Conference champions:

Derrick Favors also electrified the crowd when he posterized Green:

Still, the Warriors flexed their defensive muscles when it mattered most and held Hayward scoreless in the fourth to clinch the win.

Golden State now must wait to see the next star it will be tasked with containing. It will face the winner of the 2-2 series between the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.