After a tough loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night and without multiple key players, the Golden State Warriors’ rotation looks different heading into the second leg of a back-to-back at home against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler made much-needed returns to the lineup on Saturday after missing Friday’s loss to the Thunder.
Despite having reinforcements on the court, the Warriors and Jazz got off to a rocky start. In the first half, the Warriors trailed the Jazz by as many as 12 points. At halftime, the Warriors returned to the locker room trailing by 7 points. Draymond Green was ejected in the first half as the Warriors trudged out of the gate.
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With less than three minutes left in the first half, Green seemed frustrated that the Jazz weren’t called for a three-second violation. After yelling at the referee on the baseline, Green was assessed a technical foul, but quickly received a second technical foul and was ejected from the game. Green played 12 minutes and scored 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on 3-of-4 shooting.
However, things were different for the Warriors in the second half. Led by Stephen Curry, the Warriors erased the Jazz’s advantage and took control of the game. Curry scored 20 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter. Curry hit four three-pointers in the third quarter. The Warriors led by four points in the fourth quarter, helped by a series of baskets from Curry, and won 123-114 on Saturday night.
Curry played 34 minutes, making 8 of 18 shots, 6 three-pointers, and scored 31 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds. Jimmy Butler and Quinten Post each scored 15 points for the Warriors. De’Anthony Melton, who came off the bench, made 5 of 11 shots and 3 three-pointers, scoring 13 points, plus 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
After back-to-back home games, the Warriors moved to 19-17 this season. The Warriors will now have Sunday off before traveling to Hollywood to take on the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers.
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This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Second-half surge propels Warriors to 123-114 victory over Jazz on Saturday
