SALT LAKE CITY — Stephen Curry scored 30 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 121-95 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night to complete a 4-game sweep in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Warriors took over the game in the first quarter when they built a 24-point lead. Dante Exum and Derrick Favors led a Jazz 14-0 run in the second quarter to cut the lead to six, but that’s as close as they Jazz came the rest of the way.
“I wish we would have started the game better,” said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. “But what happened happened, we got blitzed. It would have been easy for this game to run away early, so for us to keep it throughout the course of the game within striking range until the end is indicative of the way the guys have approached the year.”
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 25 points. Shelvin Mack added 19, and Exum chipped in 15.
The Jazz took a big step this season, getting into the playoffs for the first time since 2012, and they beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. But the Warriors proved the Jazz are still a few steps away from competing for an NBA championship.
“I’m still going to go home not happy,” said Hayward. “My goal is to win the whole thing, that wasn’t accomplished. I think I took a lot of steps forward this year, I think there are a lot of steps to go. Definitely proud of what we accomplished and what I was able to accomplish this year, but for me I look at it as more motivation, go into the offseason hungry for more.”
