SAN FRANCISCO – A battle of attrition among superstars cracked open the door for the Mavericks Saturday night.
Crashing through that door proved difficult, despite an impressive late rally.
When Golden State’s Steph Curry limped to the locker room late in the third quarter, the Warriors’ once-prodigious lead was vulnerable.
The Mavericks rallied from 23 points down but could not complete the comeback, falling 119-113 to the Warriors at Chase Center.
Without Luka Dončić, the Mavericks went to an ultra-small lineup and while the effort was commendable after the first quarter, the results weren’t, as the opener of a five-game trip ended in disappointing fashion. Also disappointed was a national television audience on ABC since Dončić was back in Dallas nursing a heel contusion.
Curry was his usual self with 21 points and seven assists until he turned his left foot on a drive to the basket and suffered a lower left leg injury. The Warriors were up 98-75 shortly before Curry’s departure, and the absence leveled the court significantly and the Mavericks charged back.
They would get within 116-111 thanks to a 13-0 burst and forced a missed Klay Thompson jumper, but Kevon Looney tipped the ball out and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws with a minute left and the Mavericks couldn’t score again until the final second.
“In the second half, we were playing a lot better,” coach Jason Kidd said. “That first quarter was a little bit behind.”
That included an uncharacteristic seven turnovers in the first quarter.
That put the Mavericks (28-26) in a hole. And in the end, they basically had to throw a no-hitter down the stretch to have a chance.
“We just had some mishaps there at the end – get a steal, throw it out of bounds, we couldn’t get the offensive rebound there and Looney tips it out,” Kidd said. “We had to play perfect there at the end. But guys fought, we had a lot of guys come off the bench to help us, to get us back in the game.”
The defending champion Warriors, who eliminated the Mavericks in the Western Conference finals last season, inched above .500 at 27-26.
The Mavericks got 25 points from Spencer Dinwiddie and 22 from Tim Hardaway Jr., who hit 5-of-10 three-pointers in his first game back at Chase Center, the site where he broke a bone in his left foot just over a year ago (Jan. 25, 2022).
Hardaway admitted to some emotions early in the game.
“It was tough, especially from the beginning of the game,” Hardaway said. “Emotions, thinking about that, not wanting anything to happen again. Once the game started to get a little flow, I got confident and started attacking a little. But it did play a little bit of a part.”
It was a disastrous first quarter when the Warriors built a 40-23 lead and scored 11 of those points off of the Dallas turnovers.
“They did a good job of getting their hands on the ball, getting deflections,” Hardaway said. “I had a drive going down and spacing wasn’t all the way there. Should have laid the ball up.
They did a great job of getting deflections, turning us over and doing what they do best – run.”
With Luka out, the Mavericks were hoping to take advantage of an NBA phenomenon that defies logic — teams out-performing expectations when missing their best player.
The Mavericks got nice sparks from Jaden Hardy, Josh Green, McKinley Wright IV and even 10-day signee A.J. Lawson. But it wasn’t enough to keep them in the game until Curry’s departure.
“They’re pros,” Kidd said. “They want to prove they can compete or they deserve to get more minutes. They want to prove to their teammates and coaches that they should be out there more.
“And the other side of that is there’s nothing to lose. You’re scheduled to lose this game because your star player isn’t playing. And so, you have that mentality of nothing to lose, you’re a little looser, the basket gets bigger and you probably have a little more fun. And sometimes, there’s just a letdown because the other star isn’t playing.”
The Warriors didn’t have that kind of letdown in the early going. And that, ultimately, was the difference as the Mavericks couldn’t overcome the early hole they dug.
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment