SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry poured in a team-high 21 points before exiting the game in the third with a knee injury. Draymond Green finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists helping the Warriors take down the Mavericks 119-113 without injured star Luka Doncic on Saturday night from Chase Center.
Curry sustained the injury with 2:01 left in the third quarter and did not return. His left knee collided with Dallas McKinley Wright’s right knee while Curry was defending him. X-rays were taken and came back negative. Curry will undergo an MRI exam.
“Any time a guy’s going to get an MRI there’s a concern level, for sure,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “So we’ll just have to wait and see the results.”
Curry finished his night shooting 7-of-11 from the field to go along with six rebounds and seven assists for Golden State (27-26), who improved to 20-6 at home this season.
Klay Thompson and JaMychal Green scored 14 points each, while Donte DiVincenzo and Jonathan Kuminga finished with 13 points apiece. The 20-year-old Kuminga, who became the youngest player in franchise history to score 1,000 points has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games.
Golden State’s bench outscored the Mavericks reserves, 48-26, tonight. The Warriors had 33 assists on 45-of-82 shooting from the field compared to Dallas, who shot 39-of-85 from the floor on 22 assists.
The Mavericks allowed the Warriors to dominate the paint, surrendering 56 points. Golden State nearly had free range at the basket for most of the game.
Spencer Dinwiddie started in place of Doncic, scored a game-high 25 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 22 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith chipped in 18 points for the Dallas. The Mavericks (28-26) won the last three games against Golden State and 10-of-12 overall in the series.
Dallas is 28-19 with Doncic in the lineup but are now 0-7 without their star point guard this season.
Doncic, who is averaging 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game, bruised his right heel in the third quarter during the Mavericks’ 111-106 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.
The Warriors were in attack mode early, making five of their first eight shots for a 40-23 lead after the first quarter. Golden State ended the opening period on a 16-2 run. By halftime, the Warriors led 73-58 despite Dallas outscoring the Warriors, 35-33 in the second quarter.
Golden State’s recent trouble finishing out games this season continued tonight. The Mavericks nearly erased a 23-point Warriors’ lead after Hardaway’s 3-pointer with 1:28 left in the fourth. That put Dallas within 116-111 before Golden State held on for the win.
“I think when we get down the stretch, we stop doing the things that worked,” said Draymond Green. “When you have something that works all game long you don’t go away from it.”
“I’m thrilled with the win, but I’m disappointed with the way we closed the game so we’ve got to do better,” Kerr said.
The Warriors host the Thunder on Monday, February 6. Tip-off from Chase Center is at 7 p.m. PST.
The Mavericks visits Utah on Monday night in the second game of their current five-game road trip.
Photo by Warriors/Twitter
