Warriors take on Utah Jazz in Game 3

After dropping the first two games of their second round playoff series on the road, the Utah Jazz knew they'd have to compete much harder in Game 3 to have a shot at victory.

With a 3-0 series lead, the Warriors have all but secured a berth in the Western Conference Finals.

Consecutive post-season games Golden State have won. Golden State was held under 106 points for the first time this postseason.

"Myself and the other 19,000 people in the arena and everybody watching on TV saw the same thing I saw", Curry said. Stephen Curry put up 23 points, including 5 3-pointers, while also adding seven assists. The only setback came was a 105-99 loss to Utah on April 10. Utah took its first lead for the first time in the series 48-47 when Rodney Hood buried a wide-open corner three with 1:01 left in the second quarter.

He said: "I try to use my length and shoot over guys". The key is for him to play angry and that's what Golden State is going to need, because the opponents are only going to get tougher. It's the other things that I try to do - defensively, helping my teammates, get them open shots, moving, setting screens.

Gobert finished the night with 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz, who were led by Gordon Hayward's 29 points but still find themselves one defeat away from elimination. The game was off to a slow start until the Warriors scored nearly two minutes into the game on a Steph Curry cut to the basket for an easy layup. With 7:53 left in the third quarter, the Utah Jazz were up 62-53.

Warriors outscored Jazz by nine points in the final four minutes, Curry warming up late to contribute to the surge with a three-pointer that made it 89-84. Remarkably, Durant had not appeared in a clutch situation-defined as a five-point scoring margin or less in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime-since a February 4 loss to the Kings.

Who: Golden State Warriors vs.

Take Game 3 of Golden State's series against Utah. "I've never really had any beef with any players on the Jazz". "I can't say enough about the team that beat us". The Warriors were able to match the defensive intensity of Utah, holding the Jazz to 39 percent from the floor, and 31.8 percent from deep. The Warriors were not looking very Warrior-like in the first two quarters even though they mostly maintained a lead.

Once in front, Utah built a cushion early in the third quarter. Golden State closed the game on a 24-13 run. If this is the Durant that's going to be coming out the rest of the way, then it's scary to think that Golden State might very well reach another level. The Jazz cut their turnovers in half, and the share of Warriors points that came after these turnovers were chopped in half as well.

Sorry to break it to you Jazz fans, the Warriors won't blow this series lead and will probably complete the sweep.

Taking care of the ball helped Golden State in the end.

"That's one of the reasons why we welcomed him here", Warriors acting coach Mike Brown said. They made more trips to the line, had a much higher percentage of assisted baskets than the Warriors (an extreme rarity given the teams' respective styles of offense) and got to the line 11 more times.

The improvement the Jazz have seen, in this series and over the past few years, would take a major blow if they can't convince Hayward to stay in Utah when he likely opts out of his contract in July.