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Oakland, Calif. • Stephen Curry faked to his left, then to his right, then left again, spinning Jazz center Rudy Gobert around nearly 720 degrees, before darting to the hoop and finishing a reverse layup off the glass.

It was a highlight-reel moment that would be played over and again on television top-10 lists, and one that typified the Golden State Warriors: flashy and deadly with the basketball.

The dearth of Jazz highlights on those same broadcasts?

That's typical of the Warriors, too. While the NBA's most prolific offense gets most of the attention, the Golden State defense is stingy, swarming and suffocating, as the Jazz know well.

"You can obsess or think a lot about their offensive ability because it stands out so much," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "But they're equally effective on the defensive end. That's why they're so good."

And that's just one more thing that makes Utah's task so daunting as they prepare for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal matchup on Thursday.

The Warriors struggled from 3-point territory on Tuesday and, by their standards, got off to a slow start after a week spent waiting for the Jazz to wrap up their series with the Clippers. It didn't matter.

"Our defense to start the first quarter gave us a chance to settle in offensively and find our rhythm," Curry said.

The Warriors were the NBA's top offense during the regular season. Fewer people might have noticed that they were the second-best defense, behind only San Antonio.

On Tuesday, Golden State's size and versatility allowed them to switch on screens without giving up many mismatches, and ensuring the Jazz wouldn't walk out of Oracle Arena with a surprise victory.

"I thought the effort was there," Warriors coach Mike Brown added. "A couple times we might have broken down with our schemes, but everybody was try to cover for one another. They didn't get many looks. That's one of the things we pride ourselves on is being locked in defensively."

The Jazz shot 46 percent from the field on Tuesday, and that included a 4-for-15 night from All-Star Gordon Hayward.

"It's very similar to what we expected," Hayward said after his team's 106-94 loss. "We didn't execute like we wanted to and missed some shots. So definitely not the way we wanted to start, but it's just one game. We have to figure something out and be ready for the next one."

Snyder wasn't overly concerned about his team's offensive production in Game 1.

"We weren't atrocious," he said.

But after a long film session at the team's hotel on Wednesday afternoon, the coach and his players had identified a few priorities for trying to break down the Golden State defense in Game 2.

"For us, it's as much a mindset as anything in trying to attack them," Snyder said.

The Jazz had some success when they were able to get to the hoop. Utah converted on 19 of its 26 attempts inside five feet.

"Offensively, that's the main goal, attack the rim, put pressure on the rim, and then move the ball," center Rudy Gobert said. "They switch a lot. They try to keep us outside the paint. We have to attack it."

The Jazz also know they must take better care of the basketball. While the Warriors committed seven turnovers, a franchise low for a playoff game, the Jazz coughed the ball up 14 times, leading to 20 points.

"We really turned defense into offense, and that's what we've been talking about leading up to this series, just trying to push the pace and using our defense to do that," Warriors forward Draymond Green said.

And while the methodical Jazz can't keep up with the Warriors pace, they would like to show a little more hustle and urgency.

They took more than 40 percent of their shots with the shot clock under eight seconds on Tuesday. In the regular season, about 30 percent of their shots came with seven seconds or fewer on the clock.

"Just being in attack mode early in the possession," shooting guard Rodney Hood said would be an emphasis for game 2. "Not waiting and setting up so they can get loaded and things like that. … I think we'll be better next game."

Twitter: @aaronfalk