Warriors vs Mavericks Recap Round-Up: Stephen Curry Game-Winner Among Many Heroics

Warriors vs Mavericks Recap Round-Up: Stephen Curry Game-Winner Among Many Heroics (Photo: Brad Loper / Dallas Morning News)

Here’s a recap round-up of the best recaps from Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks reporters…

Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:

It looked like a playoff game, felt like a playoff game and 48 minutes were not enough for the Warriors and Mavericks on Tuesday night.
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Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer with .01 left in overtime gave the Warriors a 122-120 victory over the Mavericks at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Tim Cato of MavsMoneyBall.com:

In overtime, the Mavericks lost a four-point lead. Tied at 120, Monta drove and floated a layup up that Jermaine O’Neal grabbed out of the air. Dirk said the referee told him the ball was going to be “two feet short,” which, as you can see from this replay, is not the case. But is it a goaltending? It looks like it to me, but it’s very, very close.
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(thanks to the great Jason Gallagher for the gif)
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Had goaltending been called, the referees could have reviewed the play since it was in overtime. However, play continued, Steph Curry found Jose Calderon guarding him and the game was over as simply as that.

Jim Barnett on Twitter:

Agred! RT @uograd66: @iyaayas1991 I only had a problem with one or two calls. Fewer whistles kept the flow going which helped the Warriors.

— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) April 2, 2014

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Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News:

One play in overtime was typical of the Mavericks inattention to detail. They allowed Klay Thompson (27 points) to roam free on the wing for a wide-open 3-pointer that tied the game 108-108 and forced overtime.
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“We made some terrible mistakes defensively,” Carlisle said. “Leaving Thompson wide-open in front of our bench for a three in our zone … that can’t happen. It’s on all of us. You just can’t make those mistakes.”
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Said Vince Carter: “He was open. Plain and simple. That can’t happen late in games. Can’t happen.”
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And Nowitzki: “You can’t leave Klay wide-open for a warm-up jumper.”
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As in pregame warm-up jumper.
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In overtime, Nowitzki’s 3-pointer made it 115-111, but the Warriors scored seven of the next nine points to go up 118-117. Both sides missed, then Carter came up with a huge offensive rebound after a Monta Ellis miss to give the Mavericks a second-chance opportunity, which they made the most of with Calderon’s 3-pointer after a gutsy pass by Nowitzki.
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However, Jermaine O’Neal got loose for a slam with 28.5 seconds left to tie it.
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The Mavericks thought O’Neal was guilty of a goal-tend when Ellis drove the baseline and lobbed a tear-drop shot toward the bucket. O’Neal plucked it in midair.
Nowitzki had a lengthy conversation with lead referee Dan Crawford.
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“The last sequence, I actually don’t know what happened,” Nowitzki said. “I think his layup had a chance to get to the rim. And if that’s the case, you can’t just get it out of the air. To me that’s a goal-tend. I asked the referee what happened. The explanation was that the ball was two feet short.
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“And if that’s the case, you can get it out of the air. And then we’re kind of shocked about the no-call. And Steph Curry hit a heck of a shot.”

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:

After the teams traded missed shots, the Mavericks called a timeout with 51.8 seconds on the clock and eight seconds on the shot clock. Jose Calderon made a three-pointer to give Dallas a 120-118 lead with 42.9 seconds left, but Jermaine O’Neal dunked home the tying bucket and then blocked Monta Ellis’ layup attempt with 13.9 seconds left.
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Curry drilled a wing jumper for the game-winner with 0.1 seconds left, sprinted to the opposite end of the court and told the crowd, “We out.”
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The Warriors (46-28), playing without starting big men David Lee and Andrew Bogut, have won five of their past seven and 10 of their past 14 to stay within 1 1/2 games of fifth-place Portland, which played late Tuesday at the Lakers, and move two games up Memphis and Phoenix.

Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

“You enjoy the moment,” Curry said. “The atmosphere was crazy.”
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Coach Mark Jackson celebrated his 49th birthday with a big road win with the team’s front office in attendance and said Curry’s shot looked good all the way.
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“I almost started moon-walking,” he said.
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“He’s become a real good closer,” Thompson said. “I’ve got to guard him in practice, so I know what it’s like when he hits those kinds of shots.”