The Dallas Mavericks (7-8) beat the Golden State Warriors (12-5) with 112: 109 (BOXSCORE). The Mavs give the defending champion a thrilling duel over 48 minutes – at the decisive moment, Luka Doncic is ahead of Kevin Durant.
The Mavs and Warriors were with completely different signals in the game: The Warriors kicked off with the healthy guess against the Rockets in mind, Dallas nevertheless had a 50-point blowout against jazz and therefore lasted three consecutive wins in the back.
However, Dallas had to go without Wesley Matthews injured in the thigh, on the opposite side, Draymond Green (with the tip of the foot) and Stephen Curry (groin problems) fell out. Especially the absence of the marksman was felt by the guests from the beginning.
As against Houston, GSW wanted to reduce relatively little from the distance at the start – very different from Luka Doncic: The Mavs rookie sank the first two three, but then Dallas got a bit chilly, too. However, the home team took the lead on their side, in part Dallas was even with 8 points in the first quarter ahead.
In the second section, however, brought the strong Warriors Bank to Damion Lee and Quinn Cook back, with a fast 7-0, the game was balanced again. That's why, until halfway through, the Bay Area guests had a 59:57 advantage in the cabin.
After the break, the Warriors got off to a better start. With an 8-0 start, the defending champion threatened to fall, but Dallas found the right answer. Subsequently, both teams donated little, it was very disputed, high class and balanced.
Luka Doncic takes Dallas Mavericks to victory
This continued in the fourth quarter. Until the final minutes, the Mavs and Warriors made an extremely exciting exchange. After Doncic put his colors in front about a minute before the end, Kevin Durant failed on the other side with a layup in Traffic.
But the Mavs rookie tripled in the next bout just for the ring – Durant's chance to give the Golden State back. But the midrange jumper of the final MVP was very short. Overall, Durant had some problems with Crunchtime (1/7 FG in the fourth quarter). Durant still led his team with 32 points (11/24 FG).
Shortly thereafter, however, Dorian Finney-Smith failed to extend the free-throw line difference to 3 points. That should no longer take revenge. Klay Thompson (22 points, 9/24 FG) dispensed a base jumper, Doncic took the rebound and brought the line win in dry shawls.
Slovene finished the game with 24 points (9/20 FG), 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Harrison Barnes contributed 23 points while Dennis Smith Jr. (14), Finney-Smith (13), DeAndre Jordan (13 and 10 rebounds) and J.J. Mark two digits for Barea (13).
In contrast, Maxi Kleber was not very visible. The German arrived in 12 minutes at 0 points (0/2 FG), an assist and at least 2 blocks. However, the Mavs secured their fourth consecutive victory and, at the same time, the first success against the Warriors since December 2015.
The most important statistics
Dallas Mavericks (7-8) Vs. Golden State Warriors (12-5) 112: 109 (BOXSCORE)
By the time the warriors are struggling with the shooting, the lack of curry made not only against the rockets, but also extremely noticeable tonight. Neither Thompson nor Durant or any other Warriors were running very hard, so Golden State ended the game with a rather disappointing 27.3% (9/33).
However, it was not necessarily better on the other side as well. After Doncic beat the two trio guests early in the morning, Dallas placed the next 10 attempts in the ring. Overall, the Mavericks met 10 out of 34 (29.4%) of the city center only marginally better.
The so powerful Mavericks Bank came personally from J.J. Barea is waking up late. For much of the game, however, the Mav's reservists did not see much of it, and the Dub's bankers began to do so from the start. Especially Cook (15), Lee (13) and Shaun Livingston (12) were able to convince. So the GSW clearly decided the reservists' duel with 42:25.
In a close match like this, it's usually the little things that decide on victory or defeat. For the Mavs tonight, the free throws were almost self-imposed. Dallas hit only 22 of 34 Charity Stripe bids (GSW: 16/17 FT), leaving many points easy.
The star of the game
Luka Doncic. Very strong appearance of 19-year-old players: early on, he left his mark on the game – just like Crunchtime. He took Mav's offense in the back and led his team to victory with some strong action in the final minutes.
The game flop
Klay Thompson. It was suitable for the appearance of the Splash Brothers that Thompson had the chance to tie in time crunch seconds before the end. The sniper once again had a night off and hit only 9 of 24 out of the field (2/11 threes). That was definitely not enough.
Coaching Move the game
Directly in the first attack of the game, DeAndre Jordan punched the zone and reached two counters of light. As the game progressed, Dallas kept trying to find his way to the zone, where they used some mismatches after Warriors switches. So they decided to duel under the boards with 50:38 points in the zone for themselves. Also defensive Dallas showed another strong performance. Thanks to a consistently large commitment, the Warriors had a hand on their faces on almost every roll.
