Klay Thompson responded to not being in the starting lineup by scoring a season-high 35 points and the Golden State Warriors survived a late rally to earn a 140-137 win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Thompson thrived as a backup after making 727 consecutive regular-season starts, dating back to March 2012 when he was a rookie. He scored 10 points in a key stretch of the first quarter, shot 13 of 22 from the floor and hit seven 3-pointers to send the Warriors into the All-Star break on a winning note.
The Warriors had two key milestones in the win, their sixth in seven outings. Steve Kerr picked up his 500th victory as a head coach and Thompson became the sixth player in Warriors history to surpass 15,000 points.
Draymond Green scored a season-high 23 and Andrew Wiggins added 19 points as the Warriors bounced back after blowing a 15-point lead in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
Collin Sexton led Utah with 35 points and nine assists while rookie Keyonte George contributed a season-high 33 points with six assists in the loss. Lauri Markkanen totaled 20 points and 14 rebounds, and John Collins chipped in with 18 points and 13 boards.
The Warriors led by as many as 19 points and took an 18-point lead into the fourth quarter. Reminiscent of Golden State’s Wednesday loss, the Jazz trimmed the deficit to one point in the last minute and threatened to pull off a comeback victory until Sexton’s game-tying attempt at the buzzer missed.
The Jazz opened the fourth quarter on an 11-3 run and then pulled within seven after a Sexton layup with 3:55 remaining. Markkanen later drained one of Utah’s season-high-tying 22 3-pointers and Sexton made it a two-point game with a basket and a free throw.
Utah got within 138-137 with 41 seconds remaining on a Collins dunk. The Jazz missed a golden opportunity to win it when Collins hauled in an offensive rebound but then tossed the ball out of bounds for a costly turnover with three seconds remaining.
Golden State star Stephen Curry, who scored 16 points on 4-of-14 shooting, then hit two free throws to make it a three-point lead with 2.4 seconds left.
The Warriors took control by outscoring the Jazz 48-32 in the second quarter. That helped Golden State turn an 11-point deficit into an 84-71 halftime lead.
The Warriors shot 53.3 percent overall, hit 20 of 42 3-point attempts (47.6 percent) and dished out a season-high 42 assists. Utah hit 46.2 percent from the floor.
–Field Level Media
