Warriors at Jazz
The vastly improved Utah Jazz are seeking a signature victory to help announce their arrival but will be missing their starting backcourt when they host the powerful Golden State Warriors on Thursday. Point guard George Hill (toe) will sit out for the fourth straight game and shooting guard Rodney Hood (hamstring) also will be sidelined as Utah shoots for its fourth straight win and eighth in nine games.
Hood aggravated the lingering ailment during Tuesday's 112-105 victory over the Phoenix Suns and it will hurt the Jazz to not have his services against Golden State. Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward has elevated his play to an All-Star level but Utah's supply of talent certainly falls short of the amount in the Warriors' stable. Golden State is 10-1 on the road with seven straight victories and it opened a five-game excursion with an easy 115-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. "We're obviously going to have slip-ups. It's 82 games," shooting guard Klay Thompson said after the victory. "We're trying to win every game that we're in. We're too competitive not to compete. This road trip will be a real test for us."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (19-3): Small forward Kevin Durant was 5-of-17 from the field and point guard Stephen Curry missed all eight of his 3-point attempts against the Clippers but Golden State never was threatened. Curry matched his career high of seven steals as the Warriors forced 14 turnovers while Thompson (24 points) and power forward Draymond Green (season-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting) picked up the scoring slack. Thompson is averaging 36.7 points over the past three games, which includes his career-best 60-point effort against the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (14-9): Hayward is carrying the squad and his 28-point effort against Phoenix represented his ninth straight 20-point outing, making him the first Utah player to achieve that since Carlos Boozer during the 2007-08 campaign. Hayward is averaging 26.8 points during his hot streak while topping 30 on three occasions with a low output of 22. Center Rudy Gobert scored a career-best 22 points against the Suns for his third 20-point outing of the campaign and the big man has been in double digits on the boards in eight consecutive games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors swept last season's four meetings and have won 11 of the past 12 matchups.
2. When Curry failed to make any 3-pointers against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this season, he bounced back by making an NBA-record 13 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
3. Utah SG Joe Johnson will start in place of Hood but has scored in double figures in just five of the past 16 games.