Steve Kerr Disappointed the Way His Warriors Got Trashed by the Utah Jazz, 129-96

The Utah Jazz rolled over the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center tonight, posting their 18th win over the previous 20 matches. The final result of this contest was 129-96 for Quin Snyder’s guys, who dominated right from the start, up until the end.

“We ran on to a team who is playing well as anybody in the league,” Steve Kerr admitted at the press conference. “They are dominating right now, they dominated us on both ends right from the beginning.”

Apart from the first few minutes in which GSW stood by the guests, the hosts couldn’t compete. A 14-2 series midway through the opening sequence made it possible for the Jazz to pull away to a safe distance, and to kill the morale of the Warriors early on. Utah won that part of the game with 31-17, continuing to pound Kerr’s side in the second frame.

It is what Golden State’s head coach underlined after the game, that his team surrendered very quickly.

“We got demoralized in the first half, and that was my biggest disappointment. I just didn’t love our energy.”

The result at the break was 65-43, but apparently, that didn’t satisfy the visitors from Salt Lake who wanted to make a statement, which they did actually. A 35-point loss at home was one of the worst hits for Golden State this season, and we just might tell that this was a bit of revenge for all those playoffs defeats GSW inflicted by the Warriors over the recent few years.

Utah had a much better shooting percentage from the field, 53.8%, compared to 39.8% of the hosts, who made just six threes tonight. Also, the domination on the glass was one of the key reasons for such an outcome, with the Jazz posting 56 boards and the Warriors just 37%.

As usual, three players among the Jazzers led the way, Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, Rudy Gobert had a superb double-double with 22 and 15 rebounds, along with three blocks, while Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 and 4 boards.

Guys with 10 or more points in Utah’s team were Joe Ingles and Georges Niang with 11, and Mike Conley with 10.

Steve Kerr says he thinks the #Warriors got demoralized by the #Jazz tonight. #DubNation @KCBSRadio pic.twitter.com/kV4AqXY4I6

— Joe Hughes (@VegasJoeHughes) January 23, 2020

The hosts had just one player who could compete with the guests, and that was D’Angelo Russell, who had 26 points, shooting 10-of-21 from the field. The next best thing for the Warriors was Omari Spellman with 12.

Marquese Chris had 11, same as Eric Paschall, while Glen Robinson III scored 10, and these guys were far away from the expected level.

The Warriors (10-36) are playing against the Indiana Pacers next at home on Friday. After that, they head for a five-game road trip throughout the Eastern Conference, mostly through the Atlantic division. The challenges start in Philadelphia, then continue in Boston, Cleveland, Washington and finish against the Brooklyn Nets.

As for the Jazz (31-13), they are currently second in the West, trailing the Lakers four games and being slightly ahead of the Clippers and the Nuggets. Their form has been superb lately, and at the moment, they just might be the best team in the league.

They have two big matchups coming up, against their divisional rivals, the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday and the Houston Rockets on Monday. Both of them will take place in Salt Lake City, which is a great opportunity for Snyder’s side to beat the direct rivals for the top spots in the West.