‘He had juice and fire,’ Steph Curry on game hero Jerebko

LOS ANGELES, USA – Utah was the only team last year to beat Golden State thrice. And this time, the Jazz came close to pulling off another upset until a former player came back to haunt them.

Jonas Jerebko executed a clutch tip in with 0.3 seconds left against his former team to lift the Golden State Warriors to a 124-123 thrilling win  over the Utah Jazz on Friday, October 19 (Saturday, October 20, Manila time).

Durant had attempted a jump shot from the free-throw line which rattled off the rim but Jerebko was right there to outmuscle Rudy Gobert for the winning shot. 

“He had a little bit of juice and fire coming here to Utah to show up his old teammates,” said Curry of Jerebko.

The journeyman, who also played for the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, joined the Warriors in the offseason after one season in Utah. 

“My teammates knew this was a big game for me coming back here. I wanted to win and told them I really wanted this one,” said Jerebko.

Durant scored 38 points and Curry tallied 31, while Sweden’s Jerebko came off the bench to score 10 and the clutch game winner in a wild contest in front of a crowd of 18,300.

“I took the ball out, so I knew I was going to give it to K.D. and I knew he was going to shoot it, so I just tried to get to the rim,” Jerebko said.

“Jonas was there in the right place at the right time,” Durant said. “It was very fitting that he comes back here and gets the game-winning tip. We were very excited for him.”

The Jazz built a big lead by scoring 47 points in the second quarter but Golden State clawed their way back into it with a strong second half, led by Curry.

The defending NBA champion Warriors are favored to win their third title in a row but many wondered how they would do against the Jazz’s lockdown defense. 

Australia’s Joe Ingles led the Jazz with 27 points while Donovan Mitchell, who was runner-up for rookie of the year last season, scored 19 in the loss.

Mitchell launched a desperation shot at the buzzer but there wasn’t enough time on the clock to properly execute the catch-and-shoot play. – Rappler.com