The Utah Jazz played three quarters worthy of a road win Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors, but a slow start left Gordon Hayward and the Jazz with too wide of a gap to traverse.

Gordon finished with a game-high 33 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a steal as the Jazz outscored the Warriors 89-82 in the second, third and fourth quarters, the opening frame was the difference in a 115-104 Game 2 defeat at Oracle Arena.

“It’s definitely draining,” Gordon said of defending the Golden State attack. “It all stems from the way we came out of the gates. It’s hard to battle all the way back…especially on the road with their fans and their energy. We’re going to have be better from the get-go.”

G-Time had four of Utah’s 15 points as the Jazz trailed 33-15 after 12 minutes. But after the sluggish start, the Jazz awoke. Gordon led the way with eight points in the second, 12 in the third and nine in the fourth.

Utah sliced the deficit to 13 at the break, and assist by Gordon on a Joe Johnson 3-pointer to open the second helped Utah cut it to single digits. The Jazz came to within two buckets of the Warriors before they went on a run midway through the period. No. 20 canned a key three late in the third to make it a single-digit contest once again, and it was just a 10-point game going into the fourth.

A tough bucket by Gordon late in the contest made it a 109-100 game, and moments later Rodney Hood cut the deficit to seven, but that’s as close as the Jazz came.

Utah was without starting point guard George Hill, who has been battling through a toe injury throughout the postseason, and Gordon talked about playing without his fellow Hoosier.

“It’s something he’s been dealing with for a while, trying to fight through it and give us everything he’s got,” Gordon said. “I know it’s very frustrating for him to finally have to say, ‘You know what, I can’t go tonight.’ But that’s been our season. Not just for him, but for [forward Derrick Favors] and other guys not being able to play. Frustrating.”

“After we got blitzed in the first quarter … we figured out how to get into the paint and get some shots for ourselves, some better looks,�? Gordon said. “Now we’re going to have to take that and move forward with it.”

While the Jazz face a 2-0 deficit, the advantage tips in their favor for the next two games, as the series heads to Salt Lake City.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been home—just traveling for Game 7, then coming straight here,” Gordon said. “Definitely excited to play in front of our fans. I know they’re going to be excited to have us. We’re going to need them. They always bring us a lot of energy.”