Mar 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) drives in between Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) and guard Justin Holiday (7) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
On Monday night, the Utah Jazz will take the court against the Golden State Warriors, the undisputed best team in the league and one of the greatest teams of all time. The Warriors haven’t lost a game yet, but the Jazz have a shot to change that.
Here are five things the Jazz need to do to make it happen.
1) Shoot and Make Three-Pointers.
If you have been in a governmental protection program, chilling in a Saddam Hussein-style underground pit or any other misfortune that would have denied you access to a television set, you may not have heard that the Golden State Warriors like to shoot the three-point shot. Oh, and they are devastatingly good at making those shots.
In fact, Golden State leads the NBA in both three-pointers attempted and three-point percentage.
At 37 percent from three, the Jazz are shooting fairly well from beyond the arc as well. The Jazz don’t need to shoot a better percentage from three than Golden State to win this game, but they’ll probably need to score points from distance.
A bigger problem for the Jazz is how few shots they take from deep. The Warriors shoot nearly 31 three-pointers per game. In contrast, the Jazz only take nineteen and a half.
Now, I don’t want to disturb the system by suggesting we use this newfangled three-point-shot, but, in case you haven’t noticed ,three is one and a half times as much as two. The Jazz need to keep pace in three-point attempts to keep pace with Stephen Curry and the Warriors.
2) Dominate the Paint.
Although the Jazz are a decent three-point shooting club, we’re probably living in a fantasy land if we think Utah can beat Golden State in a three-point shoot-out. The Jazz are bigger than the Warriors at nearly every position. The need to take it to Golden State in the paint.
This means a steady diet of Derrick Favors, a touch of Rudy Gobert and a healthy helping of Trevor Booker with the second unit.
3) Keep the Reigning MVP From Going Spicy Curry on our Behinds.
The past few games, the Jazz have let a couple stars get their points, but were still able to secure wins. They can’t really afford to do that tonight. If Curry scores around his season average of 32 points, the Jazz should be fine. But if he goes off for 40 or 50 the Jazz are goners.
Unfortunately for us, Steph has gone over 40 points on five separate occasions already. With the team’s tendency to go under screens on defense, we could be looking at number six. This must be curtailed if the Jazz are to win this game.
4) Exceptional Point Guard Play.
Conventional hoops wisdom suggests that if you want to slow an offensive force, you wear them out on the other end of the floor. As such, the Jazz need to take it to Curry and make him play hard on the defensive end.
The team also needs to take advantage of the minutes when Curry is on the bench. If both Trey Burke and Raul Neto can at least keep pace in a match-up where they are projected to get dominated, then the Jazz have chance to serve up the first Warriors loss of the season.
Next: Four-Point Play: Pelicans at Jazz
5) Keep the Crowd Involved.
Some might say that the only way to beat Golden State is to have an extra player on the court. Since a six-player lineup is clearly against both NBA and societal rules, the Jazz will have to make due with the off-court sixth man.
Consistent play and highlight reel plays will keep Jazz Nation pumping out the decibels. In a game of this magnitude, it could be the difference for the Jazz.
A loud crowd combined with another 48 minutes of stifling defense might be just what the Jazz need to slow down the machine that is the Golden State Warriors.