In this news:
The Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors crossed paths again in a regular-season rematch at the Chase Center. The Warriors blew out the Mavericks 126-102 in a Sunday matinee on ABC and ESPN. Golden State improved to 30-27 and won its third consecutive game, while Dallas fell to 31-27 and watched its three-game winning streak snapped.
Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists. PJ Washington followed up with 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Klay Thompson added 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists. Jaden Hardy had 11 points and one assist. Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored seven points, one rebound, and one assist. Moses Brown recorded seven points and eight rebounds. Dante Exum tallied five points and five assists.
Dallas Mavericks-Golden State Warriors Recap
The Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors game was action-packed from start to finish. The Mavericks ruled out Anthony Davis with a left adductor strain, Caleb Martin with a right hip strain, Daniel Gafford with a Grade 3 right MCL sprain, Dereck Lively II with a right ankle stress fracture, and Dwight Powell with a right hip strain. The Warriors ruled out Jonathan Kuminga with a right ankle sprain.
The Mavericks’ starting lineup presented Dante Exum, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, and Kessler Edwards. The Warriors aimed for revenge while honoring a franchise legend. The Mavericks got off to a fast start with a 9-4 lead before Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr called a timeout. The Warriors responded with a 14-0 run to take a 20-9 lead in the first quarter. The Warriors’ late 11-0 run led to a 33-18 lead at the end of the first.
Jimmy Butler, who made his Warriors home debut, positively impacted the Warriors’ second-quarter scoring. Butler scored 14 points in the second quarter. The Warriors took a 61-44 halftime lead to the locker room. The Warriors’ paint dominance continued in the third quarter. Stephen Curry had 30 points and broke out his “Night Night” celebration. The Warriors led 100-75 through three quarters.
Both teams were at even strength to open the fourth-quarter scoring. However, Golden State’s offense shined, while Dallas’ defense faltered. Thompson received some criticism from the NBA world. Thompson quickly scored 11 points and failed to add more points. The Mavericks reached the 100-point plateau and hit a field goal, but it was too little, too late. The Warriors won 126-102 in regulation.
Mavericks-Warriors Highlights
The Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors game featured multiple highlights, such as TMZ’s report that the Mavericks dropped a new promo on Friday to get heartbroken fans to care about the team again. But all clips featuring Luka Doncic included lazy editing, like turning Doncic’s body into a shadow and throwing a logo over his face. This added insult to injury for fans who aren’t over the blockbuster trade.
For the Mavericks, USA TODAY’s report of the Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki’s explanation behind his support for Doncic was an eye-opener just hours after TMZ’s eye-opening report. Nowitzki confirmed on social media he’d attend Doncic’s Los Angeles Lakers debut. While Nowitzki’s loyalty wasn’t questioned, his attendance served as an odd timing for some Mavericks fans, who spoke out near his statue in downtown Dallas.
For the Warriors, Curry made NBA history in Friday’s 132-108 win over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center. Curry posted seven points, one rebound, six assists, and two steals while shooting 2-of-3 from the field and 1-2 from three-point range in his first 17 minutes. He became the 33rd player in NBA history to record 6,400 career assists, closing in on Reggie Theus (6,453) for 32nd on the all-time assists list.
Final Thoughts
The Dallas Mavericks downed the New Orleans Pelicans behind a tag team of Irving and Washington on Friday. Irving had just scored 35 points in the Mavericks’ win over the Pelicans, and what he talked about most passionately about afterward had nothing to do with his 35-point performance, but what Washington did. Washington’s 24 points included 20 in the first quarter to help boost a sluggish Mavericks team.
The Mavericks’ win over the Pelicans was their third straight, but the fallout from the Doncic trade remains. ESPN’s Michael Rothstein published a feature on Friday. Rothstein said that a source familiar to the Mavericks thought that the team could’ve done more to prepare for the aftermath of the trade and added that while the team could’ve handled the reaction better, the anger surrounding the trade likely wouldn’t have changed much.
The Mavericks’ win contained good and not-so-good basketball. The Mavericks and Pelicans had a competitive first half, but not especially sharp on both sides, and gave way to a well-played second half. The Mavericks won their fifth game in six games and are trying to avoid the play-in tournament for the seventh to tenth-seeded teams at the end of an 82-game regular season.
Despite the Mavericks’ so-so basketball on Friday, the gameday preparations saw an amazing sight. Not Irving, who usually walks into the American Airlines Center first, but Max Christie. Christie was the first to walk into the AAC, and as a result, Irving had some good-natured fun on how — and why — Christie did so. Irving said that Christie wants to be “great at what he does.”
The Dallas Mavericks will end their road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers at Arena on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Pacific. Doncic’s three games saw an average of 14.7 points on a shooting line of .356/.208/.583 before Saturday’s 123-100 win over the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Doncic made NBA history in his fourth Lakers game with 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals for his first 30-point game as a Laker.
