The set-up: The Utah Jazz won Game 7 at Staple Center to win their series with the Clippers, the first series win for the franchise since 2010. The team's reward is a date with the well-rested Golden State Warriors, who have not played since completing a four-game sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers back on April 24th. The extended rest has allowed Kevin Durant to fully recover from an injury that caused him to miss two games in the Portland series. Golden State won two of the three regular-season meetings, with Utah's win coming at Oracle Arena 105-99 on April 10th. However, that game probably needs an asterisk, as the Warriors rested Klay Thompson that night plus the Jazz were without Favors, Hood and star forward Gordon Hayward.

Utah: Speaking of Hayward, his star shown brightly against the Clippers, as excluding his nine-minute Game 4 effort due to food poisoning, he averaged 27.2 PPG in the other six games. "You can see his confidence out there," Snyder told reporters of Hayward. "He's played through missed shots, contact, hot streaks, you name it. He's handled that with poise, and he's a heck of an offensive player. He's so versatile that he's hard to guard, and we try to use him in a way that allows him to shine in those situations." Snyder also received outstanding efforts in the first round from reserves Joe Johnson (15.7), Rodney Hood (10.4) and Derrick Favors (10.0 & 6.4).

Golden State: Steve Kerr (back surgery complications) is expected to miss the series and it will be up to acting coach Mike Brown to get his players focused, as several of them were chirping that they would have rather played the Clippers than the Jazz due to the lack of nightlife in Utah. PG Stephen Curry averaged 29.8 points and made 19 three-pointers in the sweep of Portland and he averaged 26.3 points in three regular-season meetings against the Jazz. SG Klay Thompson averaged just 18.3 points on 38.8 percent shooting against the Trail Blazers and registered just one 20-point outing.

The pick: "They're never in a rush," Curry said about the Jazz. "They usually run the clock down looking for the best shot. And then, God forbid you give up an offensive rebound, and you've got to do it all over again. That's where they kind of beat you down mentally with their pace." That was the case when the Jazz beat the Warriors 105-99 on April 10. It was the only time Golden State has been held below 100 points since March 11, and the result was the Warriors' lone loss in their past 20 games. As noted above, Golden State won the other two meetings but didn't reach its season scoring average (a league-high 115.9) in those games, either. So under? I think not. The Warriors know they can't let Utah dictate the pace and they rang up 119 and 128 points in the final two games of the series at Portland even with coach Steve Kerr absent and Durant making modest contributions. Make the Over a 10* play