SAN FRANCISCO – Once again, Luka Dončić showed exactly why he’s one of the best players in the world.
Dončić picked up his third triple-double of the season, and Klay Thompson poured in a season-high 29 points in his return to San Francisco as the Mavericks scored a track meet-style 143-133 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night at Chase Center.
It was the 12th win in their last 14 games for the Mavs, who ran their record to 17-9. The Mavs will now have four days off before hosting the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
Dončić finished the night with a season-high 45 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. All three of his triple-doubles have come in the past four games.
Also for the Mavs, Kyrie Irving collected 21 points and eight assists, Quentin Grimes scored 14 points in 19 minutes, P. J. Washington tallied 13 points, and Daniel Gafford added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins (29 points), Stephen Curry (26 points, 10 assists), Draymond Green (21 points, seven boards) and Jonathan Kuminga (20 points) were the top producers for the Warriors, who dropped to 14-11.
The Mavs and Warriors set an NBA record for combined three-pointers made with 48, breaking the old mark of 44. The Mavs were 21-of-41 from downtown, and the Warriors were 27-of-54. Also, the Warriors tied the NBA record for made threes in a half when they knocked down 18 triples in the first half.
“Incredible Cup game,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I guess that’s the way to look at it.
“Yeah, the shot-making was at a high. Both teams shot the ball extremely well from three. It was a fun game to watch, a fun game to participate in. Making shots, both teams did that at a high level tonight.”
Thompson, who played the first 13 years of his illustrious career with the Warriors before signing with the Mavs as a free agent this summer, scored 13 of his points in the decisive and frantic fourth quarter. He drained three straight three-pointers, helping the Mavs build a 138-127 lead with 3:51 left.
But the Warriors closed to within 138-133 after a three-pointer by Wiggins. After Washington split a pair of free throws, Thompson buried four free throws as the Mavs clinched the win.
“I love shooting at Chase Center,” said Thompson, who was 9-of-14 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three-point land. “I mean I’ve been lucky enough to set records here and have incredible memories, so I try to tap into that every time I’m back.
“And it was just as fun as the first time I came back, especially seeing all the number 11 jerseys and seeing the young fans, seeing how much of an impact I was able to have while I was here. It makes me incredibly proud of what I was able to do.”
Kidd was appreciative of not only what Thompson did on the offensive end, but of his overall floor game.
“Klay played great down the stretch,” Kidd said. “He also got us off to a good start, set some good screens, Klay went down and made some good shots for us, and also I thought his playmaking was good, too. Being a veteran, a big-game situation, he handled it like he always has. I thought he played great for us.”
Doncic also stepped up with a spectacular game. So much so that he had the Warriors back-pedaling all night trying to keep pace with him.
“The issue was Luka Dončić,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I think they made their first nine shots.
“I think he made three of them and had three more assists. So, he was incredible. Give him credit, give Dallas credit.”
The Mavs scored 81 points and shot a red-hot 60.4 percent (29-of-48) and 48 percent from three-point range (12-of-25) in the first half. But they were only ahead by seven points.
After Dončić had his triple-double wrapped up midway through the third quarter, the Mavs went on to take a 114-107 lead into the fourth quarter, He also picked up three steals on the night.
“Just doing it for my team, for myself,” Dončić said. “I know I had to do better. I think there’s still a lot of improvement, but I’m trying to do better, especially on the defensive end.
“I know when I’m locked in on defense it helps the whole team. I just got to do it consistently and follow what I’ve been doing lately.”
The shot-making by both teams was so exceptional that it was more a credit to the two team’s offensive efficiency than what was lacking on the defensive end of the floor.
“I think they scored the first nine of 11 possessions — something like that,’ Green said. “That’s the tone you set, that’s a good team. They went to the (NBA) Final, so you set that tone it’s hard to stop the team.
“You know you can do that against the bum teams, but you set that tone against a great team and you’re going to have a hard time catching up.”
Dončić nearly collected a triple-double by halftime as his 28 points, eight rebounds and nine assists led the way for the Mavs at the game’s halfway point. Dončić, was 9-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from downtown, by halftime, while Irving had 12 points and Washington 10 at that stage of the game.
“Luka dominated the game scoring and distributing, so he had everybody involved,” Curry said. “When you give a team 46 points in the first quarter you could probably come back, but it’s going to be tough not just because of the margin but because everybody’s feeling good and Klay was a part of that.”
Thompson was clutch when he needed to be clutch, and it paid dividends for the Mavs in a game between the two teams who lost in the 2024 Cup Nights quarterfinals.
“I mean the whole circumstance of this kind of being the NBA Cup makeup game, and (Thompson) had his return vibe, which was amazing,” Curry said. “Tonight, the first six minutes, they basically beat us in the first six minutes.
“We did everything we could to try and get back (in) the game, or keep pace, trying to get over the hump. (We) cut it to a two-possession game a couple of times and (Thompson) hit a couple daggers whenever we were trying to get over the hump.”
And with the Mavs racking up 36 assists — the Warriors collected 39 assists — Dončić also was the head of the snake in that department for Dallas.
“The pace that he played with tonight was something that we needed on the road, being able to take care of the ball,” Kidd said, referring to Dončić. “I thought his pace of getting everyone involved, accepting the double-team and finding the right guy (was great). He was a big reason why we won.”
X: @DwainPrice
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