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Few if any have played Golden State better this year, and yet the Utah Jazz are still just a footnote in the Warriors' march toward NBA history.
A sellout crowd of 19,000-plus roared as the Jazz took the defending champs down to the wire and then gasped as guard Rodney Hood missed a 3-pointer with time winding down that would have given the Jazz a win over the league's best.
"It was awesome. It was fun to play," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "I wish we could have won the game and they could have been cheering as they left."
Instead, the Warriors outlasted the Jazz 106-103 on Monday night in Salt Lake City, extending their record start to 19 straight wins and moving one step closer to the lofty but, not for them, unthinkable consecutive and all-time wins records.
Hayward scored 24 points to go with six rebounds and four assists as he helped pace the Jazz against Golden State and reigning MVP Stephen Curry.
But, in the end, Curry came up with too many clutch shots.
The lead changed four times in the fourth quarter and the game was tied at 101 with just over a minute left, when Curry hit a step-back 3-pointer over Hood to break the stalemate.
"That's who he is," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of Curry, who finished with 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting. "Sometime's it's out of your hands. It's just whether or not he's going to miss."
After Rodney Hood made a bucket with 37 seconds left, forward Derrick Favors got matched up on Curry.
"I just tried to get my hand up a little earlier," said Favors, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds, said. "Try to make him make another tough one."
This time Curry missed.
Down 104-103, Utah had a chance to win the game, but Hood's 3-point attempt with time winding down drew iron.
"It was a play that was drawn up and kind of broke down a little bit," Hood said. "I came out of the pick-and-roll and felt like I had a clean look and it felt good. That's a tough one to swallow because with five seconds left and being down one, I wanted to get a shot up and not wait until the last second."
"Outside of a layup or an uncontested shot, that's a pretty good look," Snyder said of the final play. "He was looking for Gordon [Hayward] and didn't have Gordon there. … That's a good shot for [Hood]. I like the look. I wish he would have made it, obviously, but I'll take Rodney Hood with that shot any day."
Jazz guard Alec Burks had 19 off the bench and center Rudy Gobert collected a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.
For the Warriors, guard Klay Thompson scored 20 points and former Jazzman Ian Clark came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter for all 12 of his points.
"Obviously we knew it would be a tough game coming in here," said Warriors forward Draymond Green, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, as he flirted with his third straight triple-double. "That's a very good basketball club and guys who have been together for about three or four years now. … We knew that it would be a tough game. They picked up their intensity."
After the loss, Snyder preached staying level and looking ahead.
"I think you have to be consistent," he said. "When we lose, we talk about getting better. When we win, we talk about getting better. You may feel a little better after a win. But, you know, a month from now hopefully what we come away from this game with is more significant than one win."
In the end, the Jazz hope and believe losses like Monday's might be footnotes in their own history someday.
The lesson Gobert learned in defeat?
"That we can be great. Not good, great," he said. The Warriors are "the best team in the league and we're right there. So we just have to keep working and learn from this game."
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Storylines
R Golden State opens its seven-game road trip by getting its 19th consecutive win to start the year.
• Golden State lads by as much as 11 in the third quarter, before the Jazz rallied and had a chance to win the game on the final possession.
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More coverage
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