The Golden State Warriors barely broke a sweat when they swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs.
It won't come as a surprise to anybody who's been following the Utah Jazz the past couple of years, but the team will be without a key player for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Utah Jazz just beat the LA Clippers in Game 7 on the Clippers home court. LONG LAYOFF: Green figures it might take the Warriors a quarter or so to get clicking after not playing in so long. Rudy Gobert sprained his ankle early in Game 1 and missed the next two games.
Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder doesn't put much stock in the fact that his team won a game at Oracle in late April against the Warriors.
Cavaliers complete sweep of Raptors, reach conference finals
The Toronto Raptors might have had a better roster than they did a year ago when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals. When accounting for both of his team's playoff series, LeBron has scored at least 30 points in seven of his eight games.
That's because the Warriors still shot 48.8 percent for the game and managed 29 fast-break points to just six for the Jazz. When healthy they're obviously the best team in basketball and the Jazz will have a tough time keeping everyone under control. Not only did the Warriors keep their turnover number low, they also forced the Jazz to commit 14 of their own, and Golden State outscored Utah 20-4 in points off turnovers in the contest. I don't think it has anything to do with fatigue. Offensively though, the Jazz need either Gordon Hayward George Hill or Joe Johnson to step it up. Instead of joining numerous teams in trying to impress these big names, the Lakers may want to focus on the ones who are less significant but are quality players. Westgate's lone bet on the Warriors to win the series at -10,000 is a $50,000 bet to net $500, per Purdum. Here are some things to watch in the series: MISSING COACH: The Warriors are now prepared to push on without ailing head coach Steve Kerr perhaps for the remainder of the postseason. Stephen Curry averaged 29.8 points and 6.5 assists per game during the playoff series while Kevin Durant averaged 21 points and 7 rebounds in the two games he appeared in. Snyder said the team has appreciated how Hill has battled through soreness and played as much as he has. Game 2 will be Thursday night at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors hope to get injured reserves Shaun Livingston and Matt Barnes back from injuries for the second round of the playoffs after getting more than a week off between series. Despite all their statements in pre-game interviews about such not being the case, when push came to shove the Jazz looked overwhelmed against the Warriors. Then, there are some big bets on the Warriors' series price. Because Vegas never fails to produce examples of degenerate behavior, there are indeed massive bets on the Warriors, both to win the series and win Game 1.
In what has to be one of the more surprising developments of the season, the previously maligned McGee has become something of a secret weapon on Golden State's bench.
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