The Golden State Warriors came out of the NBA All-Star break with many people believing they might be the team to beat for the NBA Finals this year. Coach Jason Kidd’s Dallas Mavericks have now beaten them twice in five days.
With Luka Doncic creating plays for himself and his teammates, the Dallas offense was at full force Thursday night as they hosted the Warriors in Big D. Doncic continued his MVP caliber season, flirting with a triple double before finishing with 41 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Mavs new sixth man Spencer Dinwiddie added a spark off the bench, with 17 points and seven assists, and Dorian Finney-Smith had an efficient night, hitting 4-of-5 three-pointers and ended up with 18 points as Dallas posted a 122-113 win.
The win was Dallas’ third straight, a streak that includes two wins over the Warriors sandwiched around a defeat of the Lakers. The Mavs are gelling at the right time and after the game, Coach Kidd discussed how his team, which held off a strong fourth quarter run from the Warriors, refocused to secure the victory.
“Players are going to make or miss shots and so you just gotta keep playing,” Coach Kidd said. “That’s the growth of our young team. That group in that locker room we’re young, but we kept our composure and we kept playing.”
Doncic started the first quarter by creating a mini run. Dwight Powell found Luka beyond the arc and he nailed a 27-foot step back three-pointer, giving the Mavs a 7-2 lead. Dallas kept their lead throughout the quarter and in the final minutes they started to pull away. Doncic ended the quarter with another run in which he scored 12 of his 19 points, pushing their lead to 11, 38-27 at the end of the first.
The second quarter began with Jalen Brunson scoring a quick five points and then finding Finney-Smith open for a three-pointer. That sparked a back and forth in which Finney-Smith and Stephen Curry scored the next 16 points in the game, Finney-Smith won the battle by scoring 11 of the 16 points, and grew Dallas’ lead to 16 points.
In the closing minutes of the second frame, Reggie Bullock found an open Dinwiddie, who nailed a 27-foot three-pointer. On the next possession, Dinwiddie became the facilitator and found Doncic open from the top of the key, giving the Mavs a quick six points heading into halftime with a 68-54 lead.
Golden State began to battle back in the third quarter when went on a 11-5 run which cut the Mavs lead to seven. Dallas struggled to hit three-pointers during the third, as they went 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. This opened the door for the Warriors, and Golden State closed out the third quarter with a 6-2 run to make it 99-91 and put themselves in position to make for an interesting fourth quarter.
The Warriors carried the energy over to the start of the fourth quarter, with Moses Moody hitting two huge three-pointers during a 13-5 run that tied up the game at 104. Instead of panicking, Dallas regrouped and were led down the stretch by Dinwiddie, who answered Moody’s three-pointers by floating in a jumper and then hitting a step back jumper to take back the lead. Doncic got into action too by scoring four points, giving the Mavs a 112-108 lead with under four minutes to play.
Dinwiddie continued to apply pressure, finishing a contested layup and converting the and one. Down by seven points, the Warriors turned to Moody again who nailed another three-pointer, which cut their deficit to four. The Mavs relied on their role players in the final two minutes, with Bullock hitting a three pointer, and Dinwiddie assisting on back to back possessions, first finding Finney-Smith for driving layup and then Dwight Powell sealing the game with a basket inside the paint.
Dinwiddie doing a little bit of everything during clutch time which paved the way for the Mavs 38th win of the season. After the game, Coach Kidd commented on what the addition of Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans at the trade deadline has down for Dallas.
“When they came in [after the trade] they just didn’t want to mess up, so when you hear that you’re going to get their best,” Coach Kidd said. “Right now they’re playing at a high level and we believe that they’re going to continue to do this because they’re happy, and winning is the best deodorant and they haven’t won in a while, so they’re happy that they’re winning.”