Golden State Warriors vs. Utah Jazz Game 3 Preview
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
When: Saturday, May 6, 2017, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ABC
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors
View all 2017 NBA Playoffs lines here
There’s still no slowing down the high-flying Golden State Warriors, who had another convincing victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 2 this Thursday, 115-104.
As expected, the Warriors’ brightest stars were at the top of their games to put on quite a show for their fans in Oakland. Kevin Durant stuffed his stat sheet with 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Meanwhile, both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green each drained five three-pointers en route to Curry finishing with 23 points and Green with 21 points, seven boards, six assists and four steals.
Outstanding ball movement was key once again for the Dubs to seal the win. They finished with 33 assists as a team, with 26 of those dimes coming from the starting unit alone.
Golden State remains undefeated in the playoffs, with their sizzling 6-0 start marking the franchise’s best-ever start in the postseason. Not only that, but the team has trampled the Blazers and the Jazz by an average of 15.8 points during that stretch.
On the other hand, the Warriors have gone just 3-3 against the spread in those six games. Well, if you’re favored to win by over double digits in four of those six affairs, you’re bound to lose a few of those decisions against the spread indeed. Otherwise, they remain a virtual lock to win any straight-up bets until they suffer their first defeat to tip the oddsmakers’ scales a little differently.
Betting on the Utah Jazz
View all 2017 NBA Playoffs lines here
Another double-digit loss to the Warriors has got to be somewhat demoralizing for the Utah Jazz. But at least they had a better performance as a whole on Thursday night than they did in the series opener.
Gordon Hayward took command of his team’s offense by racking up 33 points, with Utah looking more competent in Game 2 by having a true go-to scorer, especially after not having a single player score more than 15 points in Game 1. Rudy Gobert also appeared more imposing in the paint with his 16 points (8-of-12 shooting) and 16 rebounds.
Unfortunately, the Jazz have yet to hold a lead this entire series. They’ve got to stop relying on shots from deep; they made just 12 of 32 three-pointers on Thursday and are shooting just 34.4 percent from downtown through the first two games.
Instead, Utah’s got to be more aggressive under the basket, where field goals have a higher percentage of going in. The team needs to crash the boards better as well considering that it was outrebounded by Golden State in Game 2, 47-39.
Perhaps a return to Salt Lake City will cure the Jazz’s recent woes. They’ve gone 10-2 over their last 12 games at home (6-4-2 ATS), with their offense generally running smoother at the Vivint Smart home Arena, having scored over 100 points in nine of those contests.
Writer’s Prediction
The Jazz put up an even tougher fight, but the Warriors still escape with a narrow 109-105 victory to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
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