ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after defeating the Pelicans, the Golden State Warriors (5-2) were back at home to face the Dallas Mavericks. The game marked the return of ex-Warriors Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut.
Bogut did not play, resting on the second night of a back-to-back after the Mavs’ win against the Lakers the previous night. Dallas was also without J.J. Barea (rest), Devin Harris (right toe sprain), Wesley Matthews (rest), Dirk Nowitzki (right Achilles soreness), and Deron Williams (left calf strain).
The Warriors did not have Damian Jones (pectoral surgery) or Anderson Varejao (placed on inactive list).
Q1 – Klay Splash
The Warriors got Klay Thompson going early, with a little jumper off a curl to open the game, then another jumper fed by Zaza Pachulia on the left side.
Thompson even got involved on a tic-tac-toe play to Pachulia to Draymond Green, who hit a three from the left wing.
After a few empty possessions by both teams, Zaza went behind-the-head with a pass to a cutting Klay, who couldn’t catch it cleanly but then just took a jumper and made another one after corralling the ball.
After a timeout near the six-minute mark, Stephen Curry delivered to Thompson in the right corner for his first splash from downtown:
Warriors lead 34-15 heading into 2Q — Klay w/ 18 points and 4 three-pointers in 1Q pic.twitter.com/lqHUdq6j6h
— Laurence Scott (@LaurenceScott) November 10, 2016
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Kevin Durant made a bad pass again, his second already of the night, but Harrison Barnes, who started out nicely with six points including a trip to the line, the majority of which were against Klay, couldn’t hit on a banker in the lane.
In the ensuing transition play, Curry found Durant, who then found Thompson again in the right corner for three more.
That gave Golden State an early 17-9 lead and Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle called timeout.
After another three by Thompson…
Look out league. Klay is back! #dubnation #phantomcam pic.twitter.com/ILMdaHOS1b
— NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2016
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…Shaun Livingston checked in after the break and promptly got an offensive board of a Klay open jumper up top, then darted the ball out to Draymond from the left wing for a triple.
Green added an “and-one” on the next trip, as Thompson attacked right baseline and left a bouncer for the cutting Draymond, but missed the free throw.
“KD” then got involved after another Mavs miss, splashing from the right arc, then from the left over backup forward Nicolas Brussino, and with 44 seconds to play, the Warriors held a comfortable 34-15 lead.
Closing out the quarter, Kyle Anderson bolted down the left lane nicely, only to be met at the rim for an impressive disruption by Durant.
However, KD couldn’t get the whistle on his attack at the other end, and ended up committing his third turnover as a pass while falling down to Pachulia got easily intercepted.
Seth Curry missed a three-point pull over Klay from the left arc at the buzzer, and Golden State went into the second stanza with a 34-15 lead.
Q2 – Count By Three
Seth got the Mavs going with a triple to start the quarter, then after another head-scratching miss from the free throw line by KD, Seth made a bad pass, and Steph took advantage with an overhead pass in offensive action that found Durant on the left baseline. He banged in the jumper.
Brussino hit a three over Steph, making Curry do a double-take as if he wondered who that new guy was, but Brussino missed his next open heat-check.
After a TV timeout, Steph went lefty with a drive, then after a Brussino airball at the shot clock buzzer, Curry brought the ball up against his little brother Seth and pulled up in front of him from near the logo:
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The triple “toilet-bowled” in and that put the Warriors up, 43-20, as Carlisle called another timeout with 8:03 to go.
Golden State started to pull away as Green hit a trey, then delivered a catch-and-shoot to Steph on the right wing, again over Seth:
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That doubled the Warriors score to 50-25 over the Mavs with 5:22 left.
Draymond hit another three up top through action with Thompson getting the assist, Barnes got stopped on a strong move against Green, with Patrick McCaw flying in for the rebound from the top of the key.
Then at the other end, Steph found a cutting Kevon Looney, who drew contact with an athletic up-and-under scoop. Looney made both free throws.
With 4:04 remaining, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr inserted Durant back in for the “Death Lineup” to close out the half.
Andre Iguodala got a tough reverse layup from the left baseline to drop, then Klay found KD underneath for two more.
Iguodala knocked an attack by Anderson out, and Steph took his man left baseline, finding Thompson in the right corner.
Klay pump faked and gave the ball up to Durant at the right wing, and KD drilled another three as Golden State stretched its lead to 62-30 with 2:20 to play.
Later, Thompson got an up-and-under against big man Dwight Powell, Barnes answered with a face-up jumper on the left side over Durant, but on the next sequence, Curry found KD with a rifle sling pass right to Durant’s shooting pocket:
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The catch-and-shoot took barely a half-second to launch and Durant swished from the left arc.
After a Powell free throw, Steph made an impressive crossover up top against Seth, but missed the open triple and the Warriors took a 67-36 lead into halftime.
Klay led all scorers with 20 points, while Durant added a quiet 19 points and Draymond tallied 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Steph had 10 points, 5 assists, while Pachulia contributed 4 dimes.
From beyond the arc, Thompson was 4-for-5, Durant 4-for-4, Green 4-for-5, and Curry 2-for-5. The Warriors went 14-for-20 from downtown (70.0%) while shooting a total 24-for-36 from the field (66.7%), with just 7 turnovers while limiting Dallas to 13-for-44 (29.5%) shooting, and an anemic 3-for-17 beyond the arc.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @spencerkf30)
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