It doesn't matter that the Utah Jazz won Monday night, snapping the Warriors' 14-game win streak.

No, really, it doesn't.

The Warriors lost that game on purpose, as Steve Kerr benched his starters in the fourth quarter of Game 81 of the year, leaving Javale McGee, Zaza Pachulia and James Michael McAdoo to play down the stretch together in a tight contest. Utah had no problem putting the Warriors away 105-99.

But just because the outcome doesn't mean anything doesn't mean that we didn't learn something important from Monday's contest — the first three-and-a-half quarters were telling.

When the Warriors are playing their best basketball (and probably when they're playing a bit below their best, too) there's not a team in the NBA that can take them in a seven-game series.

They're too good in transition for the Spurs (which renders LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker unplayable), too defensively sound for the Rockets (as we saw in their last matchup), and they have a psychological advantage over the Clippers that can only be described as "traumatizing".

But the Jazz — the Jazz could give the Warriors problems.

This is not to say that Utah is poised to upset Golden State in the postseason, should the two teams meet — let's make that abundantly clear — but Monday's contest highlighted a truth that has been simmering all year: The Jazz are the team that can push the Warriors the hardest in the Western Conference playoffs.

It's not that Utah is a title-contending team — not yet, anyway — but they present matchup nightmares for Golden State that no other possible Western Conference playoff opponent can match.

And that starts with the man known as the Stifle Tower: