Dallas – Luka Doncic scored 41 points and the Dallas Mavericks handed the Warriors their third straight loss. The Mavericks 122-113 victory over Golden State is just another stepping stone for this team whose been on a wining streak. Doncic was just named player of the month and his head coach, Jason Kidd had some kind words to say.
“It’s incredible to what’s he’s done this month,” Kidd said. “And this is also a team award because no one is getting that award unless your team is winning. So we’re proud about what he’s doing as well as the team effort.”
Kidd has managed to apply the best defense on the Warriors, which included shutting down the best shooter in the league. Dallas doubled teamed Stephen Curry much of the game but especially in the fourth, when he went scoreless. They forced him to go 8-for-15 and only 4-for-5 from the arc. Curry finished with 21 points and 9 assists.
“They went after Steph and trapped him quite a bit,” said Kerr. So, he did a great job of just getting the ball out of his hands and guys made shots. Jordan [Poole] made shots and Moses [Moody] came in and made shots so offensively, we did a pretty good job shooting 54% but you’re not going to win if you give up 122 points and 53% shooting.”
Golden State got more help off the bench in this second half. Moody came off the bench and scored 13 points. He went 3-for-3 from the arc and 5-for-5 overall. Poole scored a season-high 23 points. He was a big factor in the second quarter when he scored 11 points when the Warriors struggled offensively. Jonathan Kuminga added 8 points.
“Our second half was awesome until the last four minutes,” Curry said. “We gave ourselves enough chances to climb back in the game. The first half was weird, we were losing a lot of different ways. They were pretty comfortable the whole 24 minutes. It’s really hard to get back when a team is rolling like that.
I didn’t get a shot in the fourth because they were trapping so, I have to figure something out on that front.”
Klay Thompson who missed the last two games with an illness, was back on the court tonight. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting. He scored 6 points in the first but seemed a bit rusty getting off his shot. Moody tied the game 104-104 late in the fourth after hitting consecutive 3s.
“It was a tough night for Klay, he’s coming back from an illness,” Kerr said. “Moody was open and knocking down shots. We’ve seen this coming for Moses for awhile now. He continues to get better at practice… Moses is going to be a part of things going forward. He’s ready.”
Both Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie were the key to the Mavericks success down the stretch. Dinwiddie was on fire hitting back-to-back jump shots to pull away from the Warriors in the final minutes. He finished with 17 points and Finney-Smith had 18 points. Doncic had 41 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Dallas won the season series 3-1.
For the first time this season, Golden State has lost three consecutive games. The Phoenix Suns are the only team remaining to have not lost three straight. The Warriors also allowed at least 120 points in consecutive games (129 at Minnesota and 122 at Dallas) for the first time.
“I’m going with the flow, when I get the opportunity, I’ll step up and do what I can do,” said Moody.
“Our communication wasn’t at its best tonight,” Thompson said. “We’ll get it right Saturday. I got to make some shots, man… I got to get better. I can’t be “air balling” and shooting off the backboard, I have to be better. Every time I step out there, I expect to be great. As my minutes get up, I’ll get there.”
UP NEXT – The Warriors are at the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night. Tip-off at Crypto.com Arena is at 5:30 p.m. (PST).
Photo by Warriors/Twitter
