The Golden State Warriors (61-6) started a short three-game roadtrip with a visit to the American Airlines Center to face the Dallas Mavericks (34-34).
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (left ankle sprain), Kevin Looney (right hip inflammation), and Festus Ezeli (left knee surgery rehab), who all stayed in the Bay Area.
The Mavs were without Jeremy Evans (right shoulder surgery).
1st Quarter – And Another One! #ChefCurry
Both teams came out hot, but especially the Mavs as they hit 8 of their first 12 buckets.
Ray Felton, Chandler Parsons, and Dirk Nowitzki hit triples, but Stephen Curry buoyed the Warriors, hitting his first three on a catch-and-shoot swish from the left wing, assisted by Draymond Green.
Curry got another swish from beyond the arc in transition over Parsons on a pick-and-roll to close the gap to 10-8, Mavs, with 9:26 remaining:
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Deron Williams missed a jumper, Steph got the board, brought the ball up, and used his threat of the pull-up three to get a layup down the lane past Williams, with a hold on Williams not called. Curry wanted the “and-one” whistle:
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But Nowitzki answered with a triple and, after a Harrison Barnes dunk on a cut and nice pass from Draymond Green, Felton hit a three as well.
Andrew Bogut threw the ball away to the sideline, trying to get a swing pass to Curry, Dirk missed an open trey, then Green found himself with a height advantage inside against Felton, attacked, didn’t get the call for the second time on as many posts against Felton, and Parson drilled a triple in transition on a pass from Felton.
Green wasn’t happy, but Steve Kerr stepped in to get a technical and Nowitzki’s freebie made it 20-12, Mavs, with 7:36 to play as Kerr also took a timeout.
David Lee checked in and went 5-for-5 from the field, getting a variety of rebounds, slip cuts, layups, and tip-ins.
Marreese Speights subbed in and immediately got a jumper to drop, and at the next timeout, the Mavs led 30-27, with 3:09 to go.
After Justin Anderson threw the ball away trying to get a lead pass to Lee, Curry found Green at the top for three, Steph then went behind-the-back to Speights for three more, but Lee answered with a dunk fed by J.J. Barea.
Curry then got this quick-release splash assisted by a Leandro Barbosa dribble-drive late in the shotclock:
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Lee got another layup to push his point total to 10, but Curry found Barbosa in the left corner for a triple, then on the last possession of the quarter, stole the ball from behind on Nowitzki at the high-pinch post, dribbled up, and nailed another three-pointer at the buzzer:
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Steph ended the quarter with 15 points as the Warriors took a 42-36 lead after one.
2nd Quarter – Klay Gets Hot, The Chef Does Something You Haven’t Seen
The second quarter started with a technical on Dirk, arguing Curry’s steal. Steph hit the free throw then sat back down on the bench.
Thompson, ever the Splash Brother, stepped up in the second quarter alongside the bench unit, hitting two treys in the first four minutes, including this one where he actually gave Speights a bad pass.
“Mo” dove for the ball to save it, though, to Brandon Rush, who hit Shaun Livingston on a cut, who flipped a behind-the-back pass back to Klay in the corner, who hit the triple:
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That put Golden State up, 51-42, with 8:13 left.
With 7:05 remaining, Klay hit another triple, Felton missed a reverse layup, Barnes got the rebound, then got the ball back from Livingston on a cut for a nice, strong running banker.
Thompson’s three-point totals hit 6-for-7 with six minutes to go, hitting another from beyond the right arc, and the Warriors were up, 59-46.
After a timeout, Green drilled Golden State’s 14th three on 17 tries, but after Draymond got called for a “phantom” traveling in the post, a move where he got a bank shot to drop (waved off), Barea hit a three from the left corner, then got a layup over Green after Klay made a bad pass stolen by Wes Matthews.
Draymond finally stopped the bleeding with a “bully” post up over the dimunitive Barea, Barea crashing to the floor trying unsuccessfully to draw a whistle, but Matthews hit a step-back, Thompson made another bad pass on an attack right baseline trying to pass inside to James McAdoo, and at the next TV timeout, the Warriors’ lead was cut to just 64-59.
A falling fade-away swish by Nowitzki brought Dallas back to as close to 64-61, Steph got a turnover getting double-teamed beyond the arc with Parson forcing and winning a jump ball, but Klay missed a three that McAdoo deflected to Curry right under the basket, and the Warriors were back up by five with 1:43 remaining.
Shortly thereafter, Lee blocked Curry’s right-side scoop, but on the inbound, Steph got the ball in the right corner, spun away from Dirk, and launched a bankshot triple from the right corner!
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Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle summoned the “Hack-A-Bogut”, but Bogut made both free throws, Curry added a reverse layup after Bogut disrupted a drive by Barea, but Parsons closed out the half with free throws on contact at the rim.
Curry and Parsons both missed right before the buzzer and the Warriors carried a slim 73-67 lead into halftime.
Steph led all scorers with 22 points (also 5 assists) while Thompson added 20 points, but Dallas out-rebounded Golden State, 25-17.
Lee had a sparkling 12-and-10 while Dirk added 12 points.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @lilcolly)
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