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Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors hold off Utah Jazz rally

By John Coon, The Sports Xchange
Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (35) blocks the shot of Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute at Staples Center in Los Angeles, December 7, 2016. Photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI
Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (35) blocks the shot of Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute at Staples Center in Los Angeles, December 7, 2016. Photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI | License Photo

SALT LAKE CITY -- After doing everything imaginable on offense in the first half, the Golden State Warriors suddenly found themselves fending off a revived Utah Jazz offense in the fourth quarter Thursday.

The Jazz clawed their way out of a deep hole behind hot perimeter shooting and increased defensive intensity.

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Kevin Durant took it upon himself to keep Utah from completing the rally. The Golden State forward took over during a key stretch late in the fourth quarter, scoring eight straight points for the Warriors to help preserve a 106-99 victory.

"I didn't do a good job of attacking throughout the game," said Durant, who scored 11 of his 21 points in the final 8 1/2 minutes. "I thought that was a good opportunity for me to attack. Got to the free-throw line, and that got me going. Got me dunks and a few cuts to help me out as well."

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Before Durant took over, the Jazz whittled a double-digit deficit down to a two-possession game. Utah outscored the Warriors 9-2 to open the fourth quarter and cut Golden State's lead to 84-79 on a 3-pointer from Joe Ingles.

Durant shut down the Jazz behind a series of free throws and a pair of dunks. His second jam, a reverse dunk, pushed the Warriors ahead 92-80 with 5:01 left, and Golden State never looked back.

"It was a weird game," said Durant, who also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. "It was a grind-out game. We started out so well. The 3-pointer got them back in the game, and they played physical later on in the game and (were) able to take us out of our rhythm a bit. But we kept fighting and got a good win on a back-to-back."

Stephen Curry scored 26 points to lead the Warriors. Draymond Green added 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Klay Thompson and Patrick McCaw chipped in 10 points apiece. Golden State (20-3) won its eighth consecutive road game -- the third-longest streak in franchise history.

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Ingles scored a career-high 21 points to lead Utah. Rudy Gobert finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season, and Shelvin Mack chipped in 19 points. It wasn't enough for the Jazz (14-10) to overcome a sluggish first-quarter start.

Gobert finished 8 of 8 from the field. He became just the fifth player over the past 20 seasons to record at least 20 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 100 percent from the field in a single game.

"I feel way better, way stronger," Gobert said. "I try to work almost every day to keep getting stronger, keep staying healthy, and my teammates found me well tonight."

Golden State wasted no time overwhelming a short-handed Utah squad. One-third of the Jazz roster was not available to play because of injuries, and the remaining healthy players had trouble reining in the potent Warriors' offense. Golden State, the league leader in field-goal percentage, shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, 48.8 percent overall.

Starting with a jumper from Thompson, Golden State ripped off a 29-1 run after Utah took a quick 4-0 lead. Curry put the Warriors ahead on a 3-pointer -- the first of three he hit to keep the spurt going -- and finished the run off with a three-point play that gave Golden State a 29-5 lead with 3:55 left in the first quarter.

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"We got hurt in transition," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "We got hurt on the offensive glass. They were overwhelming the first six minutes or so and really the first half and the first quarter."

The Jazz offense did much better during the second quarter, but Golden State still led 65-46 at halftime.

Utah didn't go quietly into the night. The Jazz used a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits in the third quarter. Gobert sparked the run with a three-point play after drawing a foul on a dunk. Ingles finished it off with a 3-pointer, trimming Golden State's lead to 73-64 with 4:43 remaining in the quarter.

"Our first quarter was great," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We pushed the ball. Our defensive intensity was fantastic, and then I think we let down. We started turning it over on some careless, sort of purposeless, plays where we didn't really have an idea of what we were trying to accomplish and then (had) some defensive mistakes not getting out on shooters. They took advantage."

NOTES: Only 10 players appeared for Utah. F Gordon Hayward (sprained finger) and G Rodney Hood (hamstring strain) both sat out after sustaining injuries against Phoenix on Tuesday. G George Hill (sprained toe) and F Derrick Favors (knee contusion) have not played since November, and G Alec Burks (ankle surgery) has not played this season. ... G Shaun Livingston was inactive (rest) for the Warriors. This was Livingston's first absence of the season. He is averaging 4.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 17.3 minutes through 22 games. ... Utah C Rudy Gobert averaged 11.0 points and 14.6 rebounds in three games against Golden State last season. ... F Draymond Green leads the Warriors in assists (7.3) and steals (2.2) and is the co-leader in rebounds (8.4). Green and Russell Westbrook are the only NBA players averaging at least eight rebounds and seven assists per game.

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