Utah at Golden State

[Real Deal]

TIME: 10:30 PM ET

TV: NBALP

[Built Ford Tough]

Didn't like Ellis' execution down the stretch. Both of those final possessions saw glaring mistakes on Ellis' part.

 

He got himself in trouble by leaving his feet without having his mind made up as to whether he wanted to shoot or pass, which resulted in a turnover and what happened to be the game winning free throw from Hayward.

 

Then on the next possession he waited too long before making his move which ended up costing them any chance at getting an offensive rebound (which Lee ended up getting although time had expired). He should've made his move about 2-3 seconds earlier so that you have a chance at getting a put back.

 

However, despite what I mentioned above, I can cut him some slack when you consider how he kept his team in the game in the first place and with Curry out of the lineup, he really was the only Warrior player who could do any sort of creating, which put a huge amount of pressure on him throughout the game.

[Real Deal]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Gordon Hayward took the pass from Devin Harris, glanced up at the clock and decided not to wait.

 

With the game tied and time ticking down from 14.9 seconds, Hayward showed the kind of aggressiveness that had been missing this young season, sprinting up court and drawing a foul on Brandon Rush on a layup attempt between two defenders.

 

Music to the Jazz's ears.

 

Hayward made a go-ahead free throw with 11 seconds remaining to cap a breakout game for the former Butler sensation, lifting the Utah Jazz past the Golden State Warriors 88-87 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

 

"I think I got it, I looked at the clock and realized we were tied, so I was going to push it and see what I could get," Hayward said. "There's not much better of a look that you can get than a fast-break layup. I just tried to push it and find something."

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120107_UTA@GS

[Real Deal]

Didn't like Ellis' execution down the stretch. Both of those final possessions saw glaring mistakes on Ellis' part.

 

He got himself in trouble by leaving his feet without having his mind made up as to whether he wanted to shoot or pass, which resulted in a turnover and what happened to be the game winning free throw from Hayward.

 

Then on the next possession he waited too long before making his move which ended up costing them any chance at getting an offensive rebound (which Lee ended up getting although time had expired). He should've made his move about 2-3 seconds earlier so that you have a chance at getting a put back.

 

However, despite what I mentioned above, I can cut him some slack when you consider how he kept his team in the game in the first place and with Curry out of the lineup, he really was the only Warrior player who could do any sort of creating, which put a huge amount of pressure on him throughout the game.

Yeah, desperation mode kicked in. Most scorers get that way, no matter who they have for teammates (saw it with Kobe, MJ, Barkley, Reggie, Shaq, Dirk, etc). Durant has done it a few times, also, and I really don't blame them for making that decision. If the team loses, they usually get the blame, no matter what...so there's no point in thinking about that when the clock is ticking.

[Legacy]

BFT got it correct. Not good choices by Ellis, but you can't really blame the guy considering he was the only Warriors that comes out to play great every night.