Utah Jazz takes the Warriors down for the eighth consecutive victory and then ends the title rumor

After paving the way for a 30-point lead at halftime, a 40-point lead after three quarters, and then crossing over to a 127-108 win over Golden State on Saturday night at the Vivint Arena, Utah Jazz – now winner of eight games in a row – are 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 victory that was not as close as the final score may seem, Jazz is suddenly facing skyrocketing expectations, despite the opinions of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

And that’s how, after the win, the Utah coach and players tried to put everything in perspective before the growing narrative became an 18-wheeler down a slope with brakes that don’t work.

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

But it is also hard not to overdo it when the coach of the latest NBA dynasty is comparing his team now with that of then.

Before Saturday’s game, Steve Kerr of the Warriors was asked how to try to strike a balance between exercising the patience needed to develop his young talent and the urgency needed to win a few more games. He noted that each team needs to have a good sense of their place in the food chain and pointed out the difference between their own group and Jazz.

“[Utah] is a veteran team. They are trying to win a championship now, and I think they are able to do that, ”said Kerr. “Watching on the tape, the continuity they have in comparison to where we are, is night and day, just with execution. You know, they are where we were three, four years ago. “

High praise – that Jazz then came out and made it look prescient.

In addition to an extremely sloppy and confusing fourth quarter, plagued by twists and turns and 7 out of 19 shots from deep reserves, it was a dominant performance in many ways.

To start, the Warriors, before the fourth disposable game, hit just 29 of the 70 shots (41.4%). As for Utah, a team that was already breaking league records for 3-point shots was hot beyond the arc once again, finishing in 20 out of 50 this time. Jazz accumulated 77 points in the interval.

The famous non-superstar Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points in 27 minutes, at the same time that he managed to add seven rebounds and six assists, despite having no ability to affect the games besides receiving buckets.

His half-dozen coins, unfortunately, was only the team’s second best mark, with Bojan Bogdanovic setting a new career record with eight (to keep up with 14 points and seven rebounds).

Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds. Mike Conley fell by 17 points and played exquisite perimeter defense. The sixth man, Jordan Clarkson, added 14 points off the bench. Reserve mate Joe Ingles fell 13 points – all after the break, three of which came on an open trey after breaking Kent Bazemore’s ankles with what the broadcast team affectionately called “the slowest crossover in the world”.

“Yes, I mean, it’s not a consistent part of my game, obviously. I think Rudy probably made him stumble, to be honest, ”said Ingles, apparently disappointed by a question about it. “I don’t think any of my moves are so cool as soon as someone goes after such a bad scam – let’s be honest.”

As for Jazz’s victory on Saturday and their overview of where they are …

“Honestly, next time. Was good, [but] there are still things to watch movies about. … We will watch the film and there will be things that we know we did not do so well, things that we can do better 10 out of 10 instead of nine out of 10 ”, added Ingles. “Obviously, we are a confident team and we are confident in the style we play. We will miss shots, sometimes we will hit, but I think our defense has been pretty consistent – obviously, tonight was. And we were also able to take photos. When we are going both ways, we are a difficult team to play ”.

Mitchell agreed, saying that while he appreciates Kerr’s praise, he was not ready to accept such grandiose comparisons after an eight-game winning streak.

“We have our spurts and moments. … But we still have a long way to go – in a good way. We are really doing a lot of things in the right way, but there are things we can do better, ”he said. “… This is definitely a compliment, but the most important thing is to focus only on what we do. We are not trying to replicate what they did at Golden State. We have not yet passed the second round. … It’s a great compliment coming from Coach Kerr, for sure, but we are looking to take it game by game, step by step, little by little. It’s a long season – we only play 16 games and anything can happen. So we have to stay locked and where we are. And with that, with the little details, success will come. “