warriors vs mavericks preview (Photo: still shot of ESPN broadcast)
Dallas Mavericks (38-26) vs Golden State Warriors (40-24)
Tip-off: Tuesday, March 11th, 2014 – 7:30 PM PST
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
Spread: Golden State (-6) meaning Warriors are 6-point favorites
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
Last Game / Streak:
DAL – Won 105-94 vs IND in Dallas, Won 2 straight games
GSW – Won 113-107 vs PHX in Oakland, Won 4 straight games
Last Meeting Between The Teams:
GSW 95-93 as Curry hit his first career game-winner
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (23.5 PPG, 8.7 APG, 4.4 RPG)
SG: Klay Thompson (17.8 PPG, 2.3 APG, 3.1 RPG)
SF: Andre Iguodala (9.4 PPG, 4.3 APG, 4.8 RPG)
PF: David Lee (18.7 PPG, 2.2 APG, 9.6 RPG)
C: Andrew Bogut (7.8 PPG, 1.6 APG, 10.1 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mark Jackson (110-102)
Mavs:
PG: Jose Calderon (11.6 PPG, 4.8 APG, 2.3 RPG)
SG: Monta Ellis (18.9 PPG, 5.8 APG, 3.5 RPG)
SF: Shawn Marion (10.5 PPG, 1.6 APG, 6.6 RPG)
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (21.5 PPG, 2.8 APG, 6.0 RPG)
C: Samuel Dalembert (6.3 PPG, 0.4 APG, 6.5 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Rick Carlisle (558-392)
The Warriors look to continue their tear since the All-Star break; they are winners of four straight and 9 out of 11 games since the break. The Warriors have won four out of the last five at Oracle Arena. Golden State is now a season high 16 games above .500.
Lee has a tall order ahead of him, both literally and figuratively: Nowitzki.
“I’ll try to make sure everyone of his looks is contested,” Lee said of his approach to guarding the NBA’s 2011 Most Valuable Player, “and try to force him one or two steps further out than he wants to be.
I recall last year or the year before, I had a game where I held him to like twelve points,” Lee added, “I didn’t do anything differently. He just happened to not be making contested jumpers. He’s one of the few guys in the league similar to a guy like Durant, a Carmelo, or a LeBron, where he’s gonna get to his shots and you just kind of contest as best you can, not let him have any easy buckets and hope that he’s not having his best night shooting.”
Ellis returns to #Roaracle again, but it’s just not the same. This time, the focus is on playoff positioning. Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area writes:
“We don’t look at those teams behind us,” he said. “We’re looking at game by game and trying to handle our business. It’s a good situation we’re in right now. We’re playing good basketball. We’re in a good place and we want to continue it.
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“Obviously, the Mavs are a well-coached, good basketball team with weapons. It’s important for us to continue with the same mindset and take advantage of an opportunity in our own building.”
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The Warriors are in this position largely because they traded Ellis to Milwaukee two years ago in exchange for center Andrew Bogut, who provides an interior presence the team had lacked for a generation. Ellis became a free agent last year, leaving the Bucks to sign with Dallas.
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Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle says Ellis has been a “godsend.” He ‘s settled in at shooting guard, is posting solid numbers and says he’s happier than he’s been at any time since he was a young Warrior in 2007.
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There is no residual bitterness toward the Warriors, certainly not at this stage.
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“I closed that chapter a long time ago,” Ellis told reporters in Dallas on Monday. “The only thing I can say that I love (about) going back is the appreciation the fans show me. That’s it.”
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The Warriors, who have revamped their roster, also are past the Return-of-Monta subplot.
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“At this point, he’s kind of moved on,” Curry said. “He’s happy where he’s at. Same with us.”
Thompson will have the task of containing Ellis.
“It’s a tough challenge. He’s quick and he’s a great play-maker, so you’ve got to limit his paint touches, which is a tall task,” Thompson said today after morning shootaround, “Just stick with the formula and not try to do anything out of the box. That’s when they’re at their best. That’s when they’ll exploit you.”
Despite suffering through a quadricep injury last game, Curry will play. Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press writes:
Warriors coach Mark Jackson said there’s no strict limit on Curry’s minutes. He said he will communicate with Curry during games to determine when – and how much – the point guard plays.
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“Very pleased that he came out (against Phoenix) where it’s not any worse,” Jackson said. “It’s something we’re going to have to continue to monitor, but very pleased.”
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Curry, who has had two surgeries on his right ankle, said he has not dealt with a quad injury before. He said the pain increases later in games when his muscle becomes fatigued or when he sits for an extended time.
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“There’s potential when that muscle fatigues for other things to creep up,” Curry said, “and that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
Dallas has been playing really well as of late, but their star hasn’t. Nowitzki has been shooting pretty poorly as of late, as last game he went just 3-for-14 from the floor. The Mavericks have allowed a average of 109.8 points per game in their last five away games.
Eddie Sefko of Dallas News Group writes:
For Ellis, he and the Mavericks are chasing it in the form of a playoff berth, which makes Tuesday’s visit to Ellis’ former team, the Warriors, of paramount importance.
If the Mavericks don’t win this game, they can probably kiss any tiebreaker with the Warriors goodbye if they should finish with the same record. That means the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference would become an extreme long shot
A loss would stick the Mavericks three games behind the Warriors, who currently are sixth. Without the tiebreaker and only 17 games left after Tuesday, even the most aggressive gambler wouldn’t take those odds.
Taylor Bechtold of STATS writes:
The Mavericks haven’t done well of late holding leads against other opponents, as they had to rally after blowing a 30-point edge in a 103-98 win over Portland on Friday and nearly gave up a 17-point advantage in a 105-94 victory over Indiana on Sunday.
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Despite the close calls, the two wins have followed a season-worst three-game skid for Dallas.
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“In these two games, we’ve run the gamut of virtually everything,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “The early big lead, losing the entire lead, getting down and fighting back.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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