Warriors Vs. Mavericks 2/4/2021

The Mavericks came into this game after losing 6 of their last 7 games. The Mavericks were being led by Luka Dončić with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 9.5 assists. The Mavericks second best player in Kristaps Porzingis was looking like he would be a problem for the Warriors who had both of their centers and Eric Paschall out. The Warriors came into this game off of a close loss to the Celtics. For the Warriors to win this game they needed to play amazing small ball and find a way to defend Porzingis, Boban Marjanović and former Warrior Willie Cauley-Stein. They would also likely need to score a ton of points. For the Mavericks to win this game they needed to take advantage of the Warriors injuries and play good defense on their mainly 3 or 4 guard lineups. This was also the first game of 4 straight games in Texas for the Warriors. To the game!

The Mavericks won the tip and after defensive stops for both teams Luka Dončić made a layup for the first points of the game. At 10:41 Kelly Oubre Jr made a layup to give the Warriors their first points to tie the game. At 10:07 Stephen Curry made a step back 3 to give the Warriors the lead. At 8:50 Luka Dončić made a 3 to retake the lead for the Mavericks. At 7:24 Juan Toscano-Anderson made a 3 to take back the lead for the Warriors. At 6:58 Juan Toscano-Anderson got a nice finger roll to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. The Warriors kept maintaining their lead throughout the quarter and at 1:05 Tim Hardaway Jr. got a technical foul and Curry made the free throw. With 32.9 seconds left in the quarter Luka Dončić made a 3 to tie the game. With 14 seconds to go in the quarter Kent Bazemore made a layup to make the score 36-34 which would end up being the score at the end of the quarter. The Warriors largest lead in the 1st quarter was 8 points and the Mavs biggest lead was 5 points. Both teams fouled a bit too much in the first quarter (each team had 6). The Mavericks shot 47.8% from 2 and 46.2% from 3. The Warriors shot similarly from the field with 48% but didn’t shoot as well from 3 with only 37.5%. The Warriors didn’t do too badly on the boards considering that they had both of their centers out. In general both teams played a nice first quarter.

To start the 2nd quarter Dončić made 2 free throws to tie the game. At 11:12 Jalen Brunson made a 3 to give the Mavs the lead. To start the quarter the Warriors went 0-8 on field goals before Kelly Oubre Jr. finally made a 3 for the Warriors first points of the quarter. At 8:18 Damion Lee made a 3 to tie the game but Dorian Finney-Smith helped the Mavericks quickly take back the lead. At 6:42 Juan Toscano-Anderson made a 3 to tie the game. At 6:19 Jalen Brunson made a 3 to help the Mavericks retake the lead. At 5:06 Kelly Oubre Jr made a 3 to give him 21 points. At 3:34 Luka Dončić made a turnaround jumper to give him 20 points in the first half. With 43.7 seconds to go in the half Draymond Green made 2 free throws to give the Warriors the lead. To end the half Josh Richardson made a 3 to give the Mavs a 76-74 lead going into halftime. The Warriors had multiple players with 20+ points in the first half in Curry and Oubre. The Mavs had 3 players in double digits though and the Warriors only had 2. The Warriors were very consistent offensively in the first half with 36 and 38 points in each quarter. They were not as consistent on defense though giving up 8 more points in the second quarter than the first. Injuries were affecting the rebounding situation for the Warriors having 6 less than the Mavs at halftime. On the bright side for the Warriors they had 4 less fouls and 2 less turnovers than the Mavs at halftime. Both teams shot extremely well in the first half with 47.1% from the field and 44% from deep for the Warriors and an outstanding 51.1% from the field and 51.7% from downtown for the Mavericks! Both teams played well in the first half and hoped to go on a run and takeover in the 3rd quarter. To the third!

To start the 3rd Andrew Wiggins got a dunk to tie the game and give the Warriors their first points of the 2nd half. At 11:25 Porzingis made a 3 to take the lead for the Mavs. At 9:29 Kelly Oubre Jr. made a 3 to give the Warriors the lead. With 2 Porzingis 3’s the Mavs took back the lead. At 7:36 Juan Toscano-Anderson got a nice dunk to take back the lead for the Warriors. At 3:42 the Mavericks were forced to call a timeout after Draymond Green made a dunk to give the Warriors a 9 point lead. At 2:19 Damion Lee made a free throw after making a layup while being fouled to give the Warriors a 12 point lead. From around the 6 and a half minute mark the Warriors went on a huge run which led to them taking a 14 point lead going into the final quarter. The score going into the 4th quarter was 110-96. The Warriors played amazingly in the third quarter with 6 more rebounds than the Mavericks. They also had 7 more assists than the Mavs through the first 3 quarters. Both teams kept shooting pretty well in the 3rd quarter with 53.5% from 2 and 43.8% from 3 for the Warriors and 46.3% from 2 and 45% from 3 for the Mavs through the 3rd quarter. The Warriors played an amazing 3rd quarter and hoped to maintain their lead in the 4th and take home the win. The Mavericks hoped to play a great 4th quarter and get a comeback win.

To start the 4th quarter James Johnson made a layup to lower the Warrior lead to 12. The Warriors first points of the quarter came at 10:27 on a Wiggins turnaround jumper. At the 7 minute mark Wiggins made a stepback jumper to give the Warriors a 21 point lead. Throughout the heart of the quarter the Warriors kept building up their lead. At 1:50 Damion Lee made a 3 to give the Warriors a 31 point lead. The final score was 147-116.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: Kelly Oubre Jr. got his career high in this game with 40 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Oubre Jr. was not the only one with a good game though because 7 of 9 players who played in this game for the Warriors had 11 or more points. Curry was in second place for the Warriors with 28 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists. Dončić and Porzingis led the Mavericks with a combined 52 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. The Warriors ended up having 11 more assists, 4 more steals, 3 more blocks, 2 less turnovers, 15 more points off turnovers, 5 less fouls, and finally, the Warriors somehow out rebounded the Mavericks by 3 rebounds despite the fact that they had no centers and were playing a team with three 7 footers. The Warriors also played an amazing 2nd half winning it 73-40 with great defense only giving up 20 points in each quarter. The Mavericks scored 42 points in the second quarter and only 40 points in the second half. The Warriors scored 36-38 points in every quarter and one of the reasons for that was that they shot astoundingly with 57.3% from 2 and 51.2% from 3. The Mavs shot well too with 41.3% from the field and 40% from behind the line. Overall, this was a game with a great offensive showing from the Warriors and a good defense showing in the second half for the Warriors. It was one of their best games of the season so far.