Warriors blocking path of Jazz to home court
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Utah Jazz's chances of earning home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs took a big hit Saturday night when they lost at Portland while the Los Angeles Clippers were winning in San Antonio.
And now the bad news for the Jazz. Needing to pick up a game in the standings on the Clippers with just two remaining, Utah heads to California to take on the streaking Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
"We don't really care," Jazz guard Shelvin Mack said of the playoff seeding. "We're not going to get the No. 1 overall seed. So at some point, we're going to have to win a game on the road."
The road team prevailing hasn't happened often of late in Oakland. The Warriors, riding a 14-game winning streak overall, have recorded seven straight home wins over the Jazz dating to April 2013. That streak includes four consecutive victories by 15 or more points, capped by a 104-74 shellacking in December.
A loss by Utah (49-31) to Golden State, coupled with a win by the Clippers (49-31) at home Monday night against the Houston Rockets, would give Los Angeles the home-court advantage in their first-round playoff matchup. The Clippers have the tiebreaker over the Jazz.
Even should Utah keep its hopes of landing the No. 4 seed alive Monday, the schedule doesn't get much easier in the regular-season finale. While the Jazz are finishing at home Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers will be hosting the Sacramento Kings.
If nothing else, the Jazz could send a message to a potential second-round playoff foe when it visits Golden State, which already has clinched the top seed in the West.
The Warriors (66-14) have health more than winning on their minds as the regular season approaches the finish line. Golden State got Kevin Durant back from a 19-game absence Saturday for a 123-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, but the Warriors played without Stephen Curry, who was nursing a bruised knee.
Curry is expected to join forces with Durant for the first time since February on Monday, but Golden State coach Steve Kerr indicated he is likely to give Klay Thompson the night off against Utah.
Thompson reluctantly agreed with the strategy when asked about it after he led the Warriors with 20 points in the Saturday win.
"I always pride myself on trying to play as many games as possible," Thompson said. "But if I get rested, it's not the end of the world. Probably healthy in the long run, so I wouldn't be opposed to it."
The last time the Warriors rested Thompson, it was a part of a statement that Kerr made at the end of an eight-game stretch in which Golden State played in eight different cities. He benched Thompson, Durant (who was injured), Curry and Draymond Green that night and watched the San Antonio Spurs blitz his club 107-85 in a nationally televised affair.
The Warriors have responded positively to the group rest. The 14-game winning streak is the longest active run in the NBA.
