MAVERICKS (0-1) AT GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (1-0)
Time: 8 p.m., Friday.
Place: Chase Center, San Francisco
TV: TNT
Radio: The Eagle, 97.1 FM; Univision, 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Mavericks: The Mavs worried? After losing Game 1 to the Warriors on the road by 25 points? Fat chance. From the Mavs’ perspective, they give the Warriors credit for holding serve on their home court and defeating them, 112-87, Wednesday. The Mavs are just anxious at the chance of making the necessary adjustments that will help them tie this series at 1-1. And coach Jason Kidd isn’t flustered at being in an 0-1hole. After all, the Mavs were down 0-1 in the first round of the playoffs against Utah before rallying to win that series in six games. And they were down 0-2 in the second round of the playoffs against Phoenix before rallying to win that series in seven games. “I think for us it starts on the defensive end,” guard Jalen Brunson said. “We’ve got to play better defensively. We’ve got to be more connected, talking, just be on the same page. I think that’s the beginning of it. Our offense is going to come. We’ll be fine on offense. We had a lot of good looks tonight, and we just trust our work ethic and our technique. I’m comfortable with the shots that we got tonight that will go in in Game 2.”. .The Mavs know while everyone with a computer and microphone are crediting the Warriors for limiting them to 36 percent shooting, 
Kidd said: “There were a lot of great looks that just didn’t go down. It happens. It’s basketball. Hopefully we get those same looks in Game 2, and we believe we’ll make them.”. .Luka Doncic was just 6-of-18 from the field and scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half of Game 1, and said he has to play better. “Of course, this is going to be tough,” Doncic said. “It’s the West Finals. Like I said (Tuesday), they’re a championship team. They know what this is about. They’ve been through the bad and the good. It’s going to be really tough. But we believe. Like I say, it’s Game 1. Somebody got to get to four wins first. It’s going to be a good series.”. .The Mavs missed 37 of their 48 shots from beyond the three-point arc. They also know the Warriors were the fresher team since they hadn’t played since last Friday when they finished off the Memphis Grizzlies in six games, while the Mavs eliminated Phoenix in seven games this past Sunday. Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 17 points in 24 minutes in Game 1, said: “I think it’s tough to come in on the road and beat the Warriors any time, especially in the Western Conference Finals after they’ve had a little bit of rest. Plus, we missed shots. It is what it is. Like we lost Game 1, but our group does a great job of staying together.”
About the Warriors: Dating back to 2017, the Warriors have captured 13 consecutive series after they won Game 1 of that series. . .The Warriors had seven players score 10 or more points Wednesday. Stephen Curry led the way with game highs in points (21) and rebounds (12). Also, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole tallied 19 points apiece, Klay Thompson scored all 15 of his points in the second half, and Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Otto Porter Jr. added 10 points apiece. . .Poole was 8-of-12 from the floor, and many of his baskets came at the rim. “I just tried to be aggressive and put them in the rotations,” Poole said. “Good thing about the playoffs is it’s a different series now. And now we’ve got to find the patterns and the rhythm that they had defensively and we were able to execute (Wednesday). But I’m sure they are going to switch things up in Game 2.”. .The Warriors shot 56.1 percent from the field in the series opener, and also
outrebounded the Mavs, 52-34, with seven players grabbing at least five rebounds. . .In Game 1 the Warriors converted only 10 of 29 attempts from three-point range for 34.5 percent. However, they were 36-of-53 from two-point land for 67.9 percent. “My ideal game is to shoot 70 percent from three, actually,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But I thought we took what the defense gave us. They did a good job taking away a lot of our threes and a lot of our guys made those mid-rangers that I think you have to make in the playoffs. I just feel like teams are going to take away layups and they are going to take away threes. If you can step in and knock down some 15-footers, I think you have to be able do that.”. .Kerr said his team was able to limit Luka Doncic to 20 points because they threw a lot of different defensive looks at him. “You can’t do the same thing with Doncic every possession,” Kerr said. “You have to be able to mix it up. He’s too good, and so we tried to do some of that. One game we did an excellent job defensively, but we are under no illusion that we’ve figured anything out. We just played really hard and competed and tried to contest shots. But there’s a good chance those shots start going in next game, so we just have to stay committed and stay aggressive and play with force and see what happens.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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