Utah Jazz beats Warriors for the eighth straight win, then knocks them down for title contenders

After working their way to a 30-point lead at half-time, a 40-point lead after three quarters, and then to a 127-108 victory over Golden State on Saturday night at Vivint Arena, the Utah Jazz – now winners of eight games in a row – flying high.

Maybe a little too much.

After all, this is a group whose unofficial team mantra is, “Never too high, never too low.” But after improving to 12-4 in the season with a win nowhere as close as the final score would suggest, the Jazz are suddenly faced with sky-high expectations, despite the views of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

And so it was that, after the win, Utah’s coach and players tried to put it all in perspective before the growing story becomes an 18-wheeler going downhill with non-functioning brakes.

“Were not [even] a quarter of the season. I’m not trying to dampen the enthusiasm – it’s okay to feel good about how you play. But there’s a long season ahead, it’s a marathon, and there are games where it clicks like tonight and there are other games that you have to hone, ”said coach Quin Snyder. And I just want us to stay stable. Not too high, not too low. The fact that we’re playing well right now is a good thing, but the challenge is to keep playing well, and that’s what we’re looking at. “

But it’s also hard not to go overboard when the coach of the most recent NBA dynasty compares your team to his team now.

Before Saturday’s game, Steve Kerr of the Warriors was asked to strike a balance between practicing the patience needed to develop his young talent and the urgency needed to win even more games. He noted that every team should have a good feel for their place in the food chain and pointed out the difference between their own group and the Jazz.

“[Utah] is an experienced team. They’re trying to win a championship now, and I think they can do that, ”said Kerr. “Watching them on tape, the continuity they have compared to where we are, it’s day and night, only with execution. You know, they are where we were three, four years ago. “

Much praise – which the Jazz subsequently came out with and seemed prescient.

Other than an extremely sloppy fourth quarter ravaged by sales and with 7-for-19 withdrawals from the deep reserves, it was a dominant performance in many ways.

For starters, prior to the fourth throw, the Warriors made only 29 of the 70 shots (41.4%). As for Utah, a team that already set league records for 3-point shooting was again hot off the arc, this time finishing 20 out of 50. The Jazz scored 77 points at halftime.

Noted non-superstar Donovan Mitchell threw 23 points in 27 minutes, while somehow also adding seven rebounds and six assists, despite having no way of influencing games other than getting buckets.

His half dozen dimes were unfortunately only the team’s second-best score, as Bojan Bogdanovic set a new career-high with eight (to go along with 14 points and seven rebounds).

Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds. Mike Conley dropped in 17 points and played excellent perimeter defense. Sixth man Jordan Clarkson added 14 from the bench. Fellow reserve Joe Ingles dropped in 13 points – all after the break, three of which came on an open trey after fracturing Kent Bazemore’s ankles with what the broadcast crew lovingly called ‘the world’s slowest crossover’.

‘Yeah, I mean, of course it’s not a consistent part of my game. I think Rudy probably just tripped him up, to be honest, ”Ingles said, apparently annoyed by a question about it. “I don’t think any of my moves are so cool that someone is going to be that bad for fake – let’s be honest.”

As for the Jazz’s victory on Saturday and his bigger picture of where they stand …

Frankly, on the next. It was good, [but] there are still things we’ll be watching film about. … We will watch a movie and there will be things that we know we haven’t done very well, things that we can do 10 times out of 10 better instead of nine out of 10, ”added Ingles. “It is clear that we are a confident team and we are confident in the style we play. We’re going to miss shots, we’re going to take shots now and then, but I think our defense has been pretty consistent – tonight, of course. And we were also able to take pictures. If we go on both sides, we are a difficult team to play against. “

Mitchell agreed, saying that while he appreciated Kerr’s praise, he was not ready to go along with such lofty comparisons after an eight-game winning streak.

“We have our spurts and moments. … But we still have a way to go – in a good way. We really do a lot of things the right way, but there are things we can do better, ”he said. “… That is certainly a compliment, but the most important thing is that we concentrate on what we do. We’re not trying to replicate what they did in Golden State. We haven’t even gotten past the second round yet. … It is certainly a huge compliment from Coach Kerr, but we consider it game by game, step by step, little by little. It’s been a long season – we’ve only played 16 games and anything can happen. So we have to stay locked up and stay where we are. And with that, with the little details, success will come. “