Jazz win as Warriors shake up roster and prepare for life with Jimmy Butler

If wins mattered for the Utah Jazz, tonight would have been about the killer instinct of the young Jazz in the final minutes of a close game.

If this game had been played on any other night than the eve of the NBA’s trade deadline, then the 131-128 Jazz win over the Golden State Warriors would have been central to the narrative of the evening. If this wasn’t on the night that Golden State agreed to a trade that landed them Jimmy Butler, then everyone would be focusing on the Jazz finally proving that they can apply the lessons learned over the last couple of months in order to succeed in clutch situations.

Alas, this night was about Butler, the Warriors, the NBA trade deadline and the strangeness that can happen at this time of year in the NBA.

As players were rotating on and off the court for their pregame warmups, Jazz second-year guard Keyonte George noticed the Warriors players abruptly leave, heading toward the locker room. He knew immediately that something was going down and it was very likely going to be trade related.

“I was out there shooting, and everybody went to the back and I don’t know what they were saying, but I know probably what we would say is just continue to stay in the moment,” George said. “I mean, obviously it’s a scary situation, because you never know what could happen. But like I said, you just got to stay professional, stay in the moment.”

That’s easier said than done. Playing without Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder and Lindy Waters III with less than an hour notice before tipoff, it was actually kind of impressive that Golden State put up a fight on Wednesday night.

“I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and trying to win a game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I don’t know if it’s possible.”

Despite the shakeup to the Warriors roster — the result of a multi-team deal that will include the Jazz acquiring Schröder and a future second-round pick — the team that features Stephen Curry and Draymond Green still expected that they should win against the lowly Jazz.

But this season has been rough for the Warriors and they’ve had quite a few rough nights and bad losses, which is exactly why they have a 25-25 record, are sitting at 11th in the Western Conference, and desperately needed to add an All-Star to help them push through the final stretch of the season.

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Kerr and the Warriors knew that it was likely to be a rough week that would include hard goodbyes and some big changes.

“It’s always a hard time, and especially in a season like this — we’ve had a couple of them since I’ve been here — where you know you’re not good enough," Kerr said. “So you know that the team is going to look to do something.”

And they certainly did something. In one of many blockbuster trades of the last week, the Warriors will now look to shake off the stings of change and an underwhelming first half of the season and move forward with Jimmy Butler as part of their All-Star core.

Meanwhile, the Jazz will take the win over the Warriors and use it as a morale boost that will hopefully help them to survive the rest of their tanking season.