NBA scores 2015: The Jazz almost did it, they almost beat the Warriors

One day the Golden State Warriors will lose, but not yet. They went into Salt Lake City and survived the best the Utah Jazz had to offer on Monday, executing down the stretch to win, 106-103, behind -- you guessed it -- the clutch shooting of Stephen Curry.

Curry hit a three-point shot with 51.4 seconds to play as the Warriors outlasted a feisty Jazz team to move to 19-0 on the season, extending their record for wins to start a season. Curry had 26 points, six rebounds and five assists and Klay Thompson added 20 points.

Draymond Green was his usual self, doing anything and everything the Warriors needed. Even though he was 0-of-4 from three-point range, Green ended the night with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. And he was always in the right place at the right time. When the Jazz made a run in the third quarter, Green turned a rebound into a fast break where he found Klay Thompson for a three on the wing. He didn't back down from Rudy Gobert, attacking one of the league's best shot blockers at the rim. He found Shawn Livingston for two key buckets in the fourth. And he had a huge put-back on a missed Curry layup to give the Warriors a 101-99 lead with 1:28 remaining.

The Jazz, to their credit, hung with the Warriors in the fourth quarter and withstood the quick bursts, going down low to Derrick Favors and Gobert, which slowed the tempo and kept the Jazz in it. Favors finished the night with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Gobert added 13 points and 11 rebounds. They tied the game on multiple occasions and even had a three-point lead with under seven minutes to play and a two-point lead with 2:02 remaining.

The Jazz played a great game of basketball, but it wasn't enough against the historically great start of the Warriors -- who were without Harrison Barnes. With Gobert and Favors, the Jazz present a challenge for the small-ball Warriors. The Warriors do know how to handle themselves against a team like that -- they faced off against Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgove in last year's NBA Finals even if they were hammered on the offensive glass at times -- but the Jazz frontcourt is one of the league's best.

After Monday, the East is 45-40 against the West this season. Monday night was particularly good for last year's afterthought of a conference. The Pistons, Bulls, Hawks and Bucks gave the East a clean 4-0 sweep of the West. The biggest surprise of the night came with the Bulls beating the Spurs, 92-89, thanks to a gritty defensive effort and a throwback performance from Joakim Noah. Noah had eight points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Bulls held the Spurs to only 16 fourth-quarter points. Butler only had 14 hard-earned points going up against Kawhi Leonard, who had 25 points, eight rebounds and three assists. The East is tough this year, and the Bulls were the perfect example of that on Monday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are vulnerable.

The Thunder can score in spurts. Aside from the Golden State Warriors, with weapons like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, they're probably the team most capable of making a 13-0 run to put a game away. They made a few runs against the Atlanta Hawks, but then they fell asleep for too many stretches -- especially defensively. Russell Westbrook (34 points) and Kevin Durant (25 points) got theirs, but a consistent night from the Hawks gave Jeff Teague a chance to take over down the stretch -- and he did exactly that. Teague scored two buckets in the final 90 seconds to give the Hawks a four-point lead and they didn't look back. Teague had 25 points and five assists to lead a balanced Atlanta attack. Paul Millsap added 26 points and 11 rebounds and Al Horford had 21 points and 13 rebounds. It was a big win for the Hawks, but a disconcerting loss for the Thunder. Westbrook and Durant can score in bunches, but the Thunder need to be more consistent. They're fine compared to the Rockets, though ...

The Rockets just don't play hard. This isn't a recurring theme, they weren't playing hard for Kevin McHale before he was fired, and they go for long spells where they don't play hard now. The Pistons have looked like world beaters at times this season, but a performance like that against a Detroit squad that was without Andre Drummond for much of the first quarter is embarrassing. Reggie Jackson torched the Rockets, putting up 17 points in the first half on his way to 31 on the night. The Pistons shot 54.9 percent in the first half and built up a lead that ballooned to 28 at one point. It was a pitiful effort from the Rockets.

No link here, but DeAndre Jordan shot 34 free throws last night. Ugh.

Celtics 105, Heat 95 (Celtics Blog recap | Hot Hot Hoops recap)

Bucks 92, Nuggets 74 (Brew Hoop recap | Denver Stiffs recap)

Kings 112, Mavericks 98 (Sactown Royalty recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)

Clippers 102, Blazers 87 (Clips Nation recap | Blazer's Edge recap)