Golden State enters Game 1 on three days’ rest to just one day for Utah, which won on the road at Houston in a tight seven-game series. I think everyone knows what Golden State did.

I think the series is going to be exciting. You have a couple of veteran coaches who had very good playing careers in the NBA. If you ever get a chance to watch an old Celtics game with Nelson playing on Classic ESPN, you’ll see one of the weirdest free throw styles of all time.

Golden State will try to get the Jazz out of the gym. They had the highest pace in the league during the regular season. The Jazz can run and have a slightly more versatile team than Dallas. They also take on the Warriors better than the Mavericks.

Where Utah is significantly better than Golden State in rebounding and in their assist-to-possession rate. Utah was third in the league during the regular season in assist rate and was an impressive first in overall and offensive rebounding rate.

During the postseason, Golden State has the best effective field goal percentage of the 16 playoff teams, Utah is 12th. In true shooting percentage, which is a calculation of a team’s shooting percentage if we factored in free throws and 3-pointers, the Warriors also lead with the Jazz at a dismal 14th.

As for the two recent meetings between the two teams, each team won both home games. The first two games I’m not watching too closely, as they were before the Warrior trade that brought Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington to the team and Davis and Coach Nelson’s late conversion to small ball.

In Utah’s win, the Jazz came from behind in the fourth quarter to win by four, 104-100. Carlos Boozer, the excellent power forward from Utah, had a killer game with 25 points and 21 rebounds. Golden State only had 17 quick break points. Utah had 48 points in the paint. In the Warriors’ home win on April 9, 126-102, Golden State had 30 quick break points and scored 66 in the paint. It is notable that Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko did not play in that game.

I think the outcome of this series will be determined by the health of Baron Davis. If Baron’s hamstring doesn’t bother him, I think the Warriors will win. Utah has a big, strong point guard in Deron Williams to protect Davis, something Dallas lacked. In the three games Davis played against Utah this year, he’s averaged just under 14 points, down from the 20.1 he averaged in the regular season and the 25 he scored in a game against Dallas. However, protecting Davis has cost Williams points, as he only averaged just over seven points per game less than his 16 points per game during the regular season.

I was surprised by the home crowd for the Warriors at Oracle Arena. As a student at the University of Kansas, I am used to large home basketball crowds. This is one of the few NBA stadiums I’ve seen that comes close to the best college venues.

The bottom line is that I like the Warriors if Baron is healthy. If he isn’t, the Warriors aren’t the same team and Utah will prevail.