Utah Jazz are one of the in-form teams in the NBA, winning their last four matches to climb to fifth place in the western conference with 18 wins under their belt this season. The Jazz will hope to continue their winning streak, but they face a formidable task to beat Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena on Tuesday.
The Utah Jazz will need to play one of their best games in recent matches to defeat Warriors, who have been the best team in the league so far. The Warriors, like Jazz, have won their last four matches, and will be upbeat after their 45-point win over Portland Trail Blazers in their last encounter.
The Warriors defeated the Jazz by nine points in their last head-to-head meeting, but this time around it might be a different thing altogether. Not only are Jazz enjoying a great streak, key players such as Rodney Hood, George Hill, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward were missing in the last encounter, but all these players will be raring to go and shine in their away match.
Warriors coach is also aware that they will be a threat in this encounter, and does not want to read into what happened in their last match.
"We won't take anything from that game. I don't even think I'll watch the tape from the last game. We know that this is a big, physical, defensive-minded team," sfgate.com quoted Kerr as saying.
One thing is for sure, even if Jazz play quality basketball and Warriors' stars including Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant get their act together on the offensive floor, it might be difficult for Jazz to stop the home team. When they are in scoring form, they will trouble all teams in the league, and Jazz is no exception. The Jazz needs to come with some solid plans to stop Warriors' players from shining.
Besides the duo, they have sharp shooter Klay Thompson, who has always been a regular contributor for the Warriors with some massive points as well.
The match-up between the two in-form teams is expected to be an entertaining game, though the Warriors are always going to be the favourite.
Where to Watch Live
Golden State Warriors vs UTaz Jazzis set to begin at 10:30 pm ET ( 3:30 am GMT, 9 am IST next day). Live Streaming and TV guide for the NBA match is below.
India: TV: Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Live Streaming: Sonyliv.
USA: TV: NBA TV
International (including India): NBA Online.
