SAN FRANCISCO – After the gushing over Klay Thompson subsided, the competitive juices flowed like a raging current at Chase Center.
The night may have started with several hundred Golden State Warriors employees lining the hallway as Thompson made the walk from the team bus to the visitor’s locker room for the first time.
The night ended with Steph Curry reminding everyone that his Alpha dog status when they were the Splash Brothers remains intact.
Curry uncorked a game-clinching three-pointer with 26.4 seconds left as part of his 37 points, leading the Warriors to a 120-117 as the Warriors ruined Thompson’s return with a 120-117 Golden State victory.
The Mavericks lost for the third game in a row, falling to 5-6, although they played one of the most heartfelt games of the season in many ways.
Thompson was strong all night, finishing with 22 points and hitting half of his 12 three-pointers. He had gone through a tribute video, a long, loving ovation from the fans, most of whom were decked out in captain’s hats that were a nod to Thompson’s affinity for taking his boat out on San Francisco Bay.
And he admitted it’s not near as much fun being on the other side of one of Curry’s legendary hot-shooting displays.
“It was fun to match up with Steph,” Thompson said. “We guarded each other plenty of times in practices, at Team USA camps and All-Star games. So in a real competitive NBA game, it was pretty surreal. But after a few minutes, it was just basketball.
“And, yeah, it hurts to be on the other side of one of his flurries. The guy got hot at the end and made some ridiculous shots. And on the other end, it sucks. But we play them three more times. Hopefully we can learn from it.”
Curry very definitely had the last laugh. He scored the Warriors’ last 12 points, leading them back from a 114-108 deficit in the game’s final 3:30.
“On the road, we put ourselves in position to win,” coach Jason Kidd said. “The last two minutes, we have to get better. The last three games, the last two minutes, we can’t turn the ball over, we gave up 18 offensive rebounds and with that said, we still have a chance. But we got to be better at rebounding the ball and being able to execute late in the game.”
It was Thompson’s first game against the Warriors, for whom he played his first 13 seasons in the league. And he responded well. But the Mavericks’ inability to finish the game strong cost them.
They were up 110-105 after Thompson’s sixth three-pointer and the advantage grew to seven on Daniel Gafford’s dunk with 4:33 left.
That’s where the Mavericks ran out of steam. The Warriors outscored them 15-5 the rest of the way. Curry was a beast, hitting a midrange jumper to start his eng-of-game blitz. He quickly added a three-pointer and a driving, high-arching layup as part of the surge.
After a couple empty possessions, Curry then drilled a three-pointer with 26.4 seconds left. Quentin Grimes kept the Mavericks’ hopes alive with a three pointer five seconds later, but Curry was fouled with 12.9 showing and nailed both free throws.
Luka Dončić, who had 31 points, had a chance with a difficult three-pointer on the Mavericks’ final possession but it was off the mark.
“He was very clutch down the stretch,” Dončić said of Curry. “I think we should have done a better job guarding him. But it’s Steph Curry. Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do.”
It was the opening game of the 2024 Cup Nights, the league’s in-season tournament that features three groups of five teams in each conference. The Mavericks now will be fighting from behind the rest of the way in Group C of the Western Conference with games left against Denver, Memphis and New Orleans.
They will have to fix their clutch-game problems quickly if they are to rectify things in the short term. All three of the games on their losing streak came down to the final possessions.
“We’ve had, like, four games that could have gone either way,” Thompson said. “This one really stung being up seven with under four minutes left. But I’m really proud of how this team keeps fighting.
“We’re still getting to know each other and I keep telling the guys it’s better to go through this stuff early in the season versus game 60. I know we have a chance to be great and we just gotta stay the course.”
As Luka said: “It’s 82 games. People forget that. It comes down to one possession. We could have won three in a row, but we lost. It’s on me. I didn’t execute down the stretch. I just got to be better down the stretch.”
The past week has run counter to everything the Mavericks were about last season, when they were one of the best teams in the NBA at winning games that came down to the final possessions.
“Last year, we were a very, very good clutch team,” Dončić said. “This year, not so good so far. I think we lost by one possession three games in a row against very good teams, all contenders. There’s a lot of positives there. I know when we play with pace, it’s very hard to stop us. I see a lot of positives.’
X: @ESefko
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