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Utah Jazz – Golden State Warriors Preview – 03.09.2016

The Utah Jazz (29-34) travel to ORACLE Arena to square off against the Golden State Warriors (56-6), the league’s top team. The game gets underway at 10:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 9 and will air on RT and GS2.

The Warriors beat the Magic 119-113 on Monday. Stephen Curry fueled the Warriors, recording 41 points and 13 rebounds to notch his 11th double-double this season. The Jazz, meanwhile, are coming off a 91-84 loss to the Hawks on Tuesday. Gordon Hayward had a team-high 22 points.

This game should be a matchup of contrasting styles. The Warriors (ranked second in the league in possessions per game) prefer an up-tempo style of play, while the Jazz (30th) are more half-court-oriented.

The Warriors have won both contests against the Jazz this season, including a 103-85 blowout in their last matchup. Curry was a top performer in the victory with 16 points, five rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and two three-pointers.

The Warriors look to build on their records of 56-6 Straight Up (SU) and 32-27-3 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 2-8 ATS over their last 10 games. Golden State has averaged 98.0 points per game over the last 10 games, lower than its season average of 115.2. Golden State is excellent from the perimeter with a league-high 791 three-pointers made (12.0 per game). Golden State has an edge in the rebounding department for this game, where they rack up an average of 46.4 rebounds per game. The Warriors, sporting the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA (1.93), have proven themselves to be an extremely efficient offensive team. Turning to the defensive side, teams have to fight for open shots against the Warriors, who have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the league at .436.

On the other side, the Jazz head into the game with records of 29-33-1 ATS and 29-34 SU. In Western Conference games, Utah has gone 29-34 SU and 29-33-1 ATS. During the last 10 games, they averaged 113.5 PPG, above their 97.7 PPG season average. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Jazz on the defensive end. They allowed 112.1 points per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 97.1.

The Warriors’ win over Utah in their last game brought their SU record to 9-1 over the Jazz in the last 10 games. Additionally, with a 6-4 record, the Warriors have the advantage ATS.

Predictions: SU Winner – GS

Notes

Utah ranks 29th in points per game with 97.7, while Golden State ranks 22nd in points allowed with an average of 104.4 given up.

Utah scores an average of 97.3 points per away game (ranked 26th), while Golden State allows 99.9 points per home game (ranked 12th).

When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Jazz are 26-11 on the season. When the Warriors score fewer than 100, they are a losing 1-4.

When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Jazz are just 3-23 this season. Golden State is an outstanding 55-2 when registering triple digits.

The Jazz have an offensive rating of 103.5 (ranked 15th), while the Warriors rank sixth for their defensive rating of 101.0.

Golden State has an average field goal percentage of 48.6% (ranked second). Utah is a subpar 2-11 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.

On average, the Golden State Warriors attempt 30.0 three point field goals per game and the Utah Jazz attempt 22.0 per game. In games where they attempt at least 25 threes, Golden State has a formidable 51-5 record, while Utah is 10-14.

With 6.0 blocks per game, the Golden State Warriors rank fifth in the league. The Utah Jazz are in the top half of NBA teams for blocking, ranking 12th with 5.3 blocks per game.

Golden State is ranked 18th in offensive rebounding. Utah ranks 24th in defensive rebounds.

The Golden State Warriors earn an average of 8.6 steals per game and are ranked eighth. The Utah Jazz have a 17-18 record when they allow at least 8 steals.

Written by GMS Previews

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