SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors, who have longed for a second scorer to supplement Stephen Curry, had a second, a third and a fourth on Sunday. They made 27 3-pointers, recorded 39 assists, didn’t torture themselves with turnovers and scored 133 points.
They did so many things well on offense, only to betray what had been their most reliable quality all season.
Defense.
Scoring 133 points will result in success at least 90 percent of the time in the NBA. One exception is when your opponent pours in 143, as the Dallas Mavericks did in sending the Warriors off the Chase Center floor with their eighth loss in 10 games.
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The Warriors led for all of 20 seconds after an Andrew Wiggins 3-pointer 39 seconds into the game provided a 3-2 lead. The Mavericks responded by making their next eight shots, nine in all, for a run that was at the core of a first-quarter thrashing. Dallas scored 46 points, the most Golden State has allowed in any quarter in any game this season.
“They basically beat us in the first six minutes,” Curry said.
Dallas star Luka Dončić went to work early, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, adding three assists, in his first seven minutes. Andrew Wiggins, who historically has done a reasonably good job containing Dončić, was abused – as was everybody coach Steve Kerr threw at Luka.
“The issue was Luka Dončić,” Kerr said of the defensive shortcomings. “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. They've got a hell of a team, made the Finals last year. They spread you out. They're as difficult to guard as anybody and we tried a lot of different things.”
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The Mavericks shot 65.4 percent from the field in the first quarter, including 61.5 percent from distance. By halftime, they were sitting on 81 points off 60.4-percent shooting, including 48 percent beyond the arc.
Draymond Green, Golden State’s best defender, came off the bench once more and could only watch the first four minutes from the bench. By the time he entered with 7:38 left in the first quarter, Warriors were trailing 22-11.
The Mavericks’ first missed shot, a 32-foot launch by Dončić, came 25 seconds after Green entered.
“Just no force,” Green said. “You know Luka played awful in the last game that he played, and he made it a point to come out and correct the mistake. You could see it from the gate. He did exactly what he set out to do, imposed his will, and everybody else over there fell in line.”
Dončić achieved a triple-double within 26 minutes and finished with 45 points on 16-of-23 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 from deep, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. Klay Thompson enjoyed a strong game, finishing with 29 points, with 13 in the fourth quarter to snuff any Golden State comeback attempts. Kyrie Irving put in 21 points and Quentin Grimes scored 14 in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Mavericks didn’t play great defense, either, but their relentless offense spent the evening eviscerating a Warriors defense that alternated moments of spark with too many sequences of napping or failing to apply pressure.
“Got to set a tone,” Green said. “You set (a soft) tone, it’s hard to stop a team. You can do that against the bum teams. But if you set that tone against a great team, you’re going to have a hard time catching up.”
Each time the Warriors made a run, the Mavericks answered. When Golden State pulled within three (83-80) on a Jonathan Kuminga 3-pointer with 10:37 left in the third quarter, Dallas needed only three minutes to push the lead to 14. A Wiggins triple got the Warriors within five (138-133) with 2:49 remaining, but they committed two turnovers and missed four shots down the stretch.
“We were able to cut the lead a few times,” Green said. “At least it felt like we kept cutting it. But when you’re playing against a great team that has so many options, somebody is going to score. All it takes is one basket to stop the bleeding, and then they go on their run. Can’t play uphill against a team like that.”
This was one of Golden State’s better offensive performances this season. The 27 3-pointers tied a franchise record. The 39 assists are a season high. Their 50-percent shooting (27-of-54) beyond the arc was a season high.
Wiggins scored 29 points, Curry had 26, Green had 21 and Kuminga had 20. Scorers aplenty.
But the fireworks were no match for a Mavericks team that shot better, rebounded much better (47-37) and shredded a defense that entered the game ranked fifth in the NBA.
When a team’s strength doesn’t hold up, defeat is inevitable.