Golden State Warriors vs. Utah Jazz Game 4 Preview
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
When: Monday, May 8, 2017, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Golden State Warriors (-8.5) at Utah Jazz (+8.5); total: 207.5 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: TNT
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors (-450)
Without head coach Steve Kerr on the sidelines, having cold shooting nights from a handful of their top stars, and a rowdy crowd in Utah creating a hostile atmosphere, the Golden State Warriors still overcame all these adversities to remain undefeated in the postseason.
Apparently, all the Warriors basically needed was one guy to lead them to the 102-91 victory on Saturday over the Utah Jazz. Kevin Durant scored 33 points – 22 in the first half – to go with 13 rebounds in Game 3. KD’s one-man show more than made up for a trying evening from Stephen Curry (23 points on 3-of-11 three-point shooting) and Draymond Green, who got into early foul trouble and was constantly flustered by Utah’s Rudy Gobert.
In the end, Golden State still emerged victorious by playing crisp basketball in the second half. The team committed just one turnover in the final two quarters and finished the game with a decent-enough field-goal percentage of 44 percent compared to just 39 percent from the Jazz. The Warriors also benefitted greatly from a 51-42 edge in rebounding.
This has been the worst performance in the playoffs from the Dubs thus far, and yet they still won by double digits. Given that they’ve won eight-straight road games to date (SU/ATS), completing the sweep of the Jazz this Monday is pretty much inevitable.
Betting on the Utah Jazz (+350)
Just when the Utah Jazz were finally gaining steam, the Warriors stole victory away from them down the stretch of Game 3 for a truly disheartening outcome.
The Jazz took the lead for the first time this series with about a minute left before halftime and went up by as much as nine points in the third quarter. All five of their starters scored in double-figures, with Gordon Hayward tallying 29 points and with Rudy Gobert adding 21 points and 15 boards.
However, they still couldn’t seal the deal when it mattered most, going scoreless for about five minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter en route to the loss. Utah needs to put up more points under the basket to counter the Golden State’s prowess from the perimeter, as a mere 38-34 edge in points in the paint won’t do. Gobert’s inefficiency from the free-throw line (7-of-15) must’ve also attributed to the team’s hesitance to keep feeding him down low.
Nonetheless, the Jazz should still be able to build off of their sound defensive performance that night. They held the Warriors to under 106 points for the first time in these playoffs and to just a 30-percent clip from three-point range.
Unfortunately for the fans in Salt Lake City, their team is actually playing worse on its own home court in the playoffs. The Jazz are just 1-3 at home this postseason (SU/ATS), and this definitely doesn’t bode well for Game 4, especially when you pit this up against the Warriors’ stellar road record of late.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors (-8.5) advance to the Western Conference Finals by cruising to a 114-93 win in Game 4.
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