Stephen Curry in Game 1 of Warriors-Jazz, with George Hill:
- On: 13 points in 14 minutes, 4-of-5 shooting, 122.1 Golden State offensive rating
- Off: 9 points in 16 minutes, 3-of-6 shooting, 101.5 Golden State offensive rating
We’re dealing with small samples, and Curry is pretty darn good regardless.
But Utah is losing its top defender on the Warriors’ back-to-back reigning MVP.
Jazz:
The Jazz were already major underdogs. This makes an upset even harder to pull off.
Utah will turn to a hodgepodge of Shelvin Mack, Dante Exum, Raul Neto and maybe even some point guard-less lineups where Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood handle the ball.
This is also bad news personally for Hill, who rejected a contract extension and will enter free agency coming off a career year. But he has dealt with several nagging injuries, and they will collectively raise questions about his value.