Warriors at Jazz
The Golden State Warriors are getting good news both on and off the court and can earn a four-game sweep of the Western Conference semifinals when they visit the Utah Jazz for Game 4 on Monday. Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been out since the first round while dealing with complications from back surgery, reportedly underwent a procedure to address a spinal cord leak and could resume his coaching career as early as later this postseason.
Kerr did not travel with the team to Utah and is not expected back soon, but owner Joe Lacob gave a radio interview over the weekend and suggested that he may be getting closer to rejoining a Golden State squad that is 7-0 in the playoffs and on the verge of a second consecutive sweep after coming alive in the fourth quarter of a 102-91 triumph in Saturday's Game 3. "Hopefully the leak was solved; he had another procedure. It's gone on for nearly two years. Very unusual, I believe," Lacob said to Bloomberg Radio. "We feel really bad for him, the players. Everybody understands it. We just have to be in his court here and support whatever it takes for him to get back, and I'm sure they will eventually solve it. Hopefully sooner rather than later, and hopefully we'll have him coaching on the court sooner rather than later." The Jazz led by as much as nine points in the third quarter on Saturday and held Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to a combined 7-of-29 from the floor but still lost. "We played like we're capable of playing for the first time in the series," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "But … that's why they are who they are."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE WARRIORS: With Curry and Thompson suffering through poor shooting nights in Game 3, Golden State let Kevin Durant take the lead and watched the former MVP collect 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting and 13 rebounds. "I want to try to say this as humbly as I can," Durant told reporters in the postgame press conference. "But I’ve been doing this for so long, and every time I roll out of the bed and we have a game that day, I feel like I can go out there and score." Forward Draymond Green heard loud boos from the crowd most of the game and had a little fun with the opposing fans early, holding up two fingers to represent the Warriors being up 2-0 in the series.
ABOUT THE JAZZ: All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward had another strong game on Saturday with 29 points and six assists but Utah struggled to 39 percent shooting from the field. "I don't think we shot the ball as well as we wanted," Hayward told reporters. "There were times where we got some bad shots. I think that's going to happen because they're a good defensive team. But the ones we did get, that were open, it seemed like we didn't knock them down like we normally do." Utah has been without second-leading scorer George Hill (toe) the last two games and he remains questionable for Game 4.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz are attempting to become the first NBA team to ever recover from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven to win the series.
2. Green was hit with his first technical foul of the postseason when he was assessed the infraction while sitting on the bench and yelling out toward referees in Game 3.
3. Golden State committed just seven turnovers on Saturday - none in the second half.