Golden State Warriors Edge Dallas Mavericks In Shootout
By Eric He
114. 79. 128. 41. Final
The Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks are the two highest-scoring teams in the league, and they showed why in a 128-114 shootout on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors emerged victorious.
Stephen Curry led the way with a season-high 51 points, making 10 of his team’s 19 three-pointers, also a season-high.
A quick 7-0 run by the bench to start the fourth quarter extended a three-point lead to 10 at 108-98, the Warriors’ largest lead of the night after falling behind 24-4 in the early going.
The Mavericks cut into the deficit, but never really threatened. A steal and breakaway dunk by Andre Iguodala gave the Warriors a 114-107 lead at the 4:53 mark. A tip-in by Andrew Bogut off a Klay Thompson miss was the Warriors’ 120th point, and the advantage was pushed to 125-113 with under two minutes after a string of Curry free throws.
With 50 seconds to play, Curry made a deep three from the left wing to give him 51 points on the night.
Down four at the half, the Warriors came out hot in the second half — unlike the first half — hitting six of their first seven shots and going on a 13-2 run to take a 76-70 lead. Four 3-pointers — two each by Curry and Klay Thompson — fueled the rally and brought Golden State all the way back from what seemed like an insurmountable early deficit.
But Curry wasn’t quite done, as he went off in the third quarter for 26 points and six 3-pointers in the frame alone, carrying the offensive load. A deep three-pointer from 28-feet late in the quarter put the Warriors up six, but the Mavericks hung tough with Curry and Co. Charlie Villanueva hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, and the high-scoring contest was 101-98 in favor of the Warriors heading into the fourth quarter.
They faced quite a bit of turbulence, however.
The Warriors got off to their worst start of the season, allowing the Mavericks to go up 24-4 midway through the first quarter. Turnovers and poor defense contributed to the disaster, as the Mavericks had multiple fastbreak opportunities and open looks. Meanwhile, the Warriors scored just two field goals in the first six minutes, evidence that they hadn’t quite woken up.
Golden State committed five turnovers in the first quarter, but just one in the second.
And thus, the team that allowed 8-0 and 14-0 runs by the Mavericks to start the game crawled back into it despite allowing giving up 42 points in the first quarter. The Warriors’ bench went on a 13-0 spurt in the second quarter to trim the lead to 47-40, keyed by eight points from Speights, who led the team with a +12 plus-minus rating in the first half.
The Warriors finished the half on a high note, as layups by Andrew Bogut and Curry cut the Mavericks’ lead to 62-58.
Curry had 15 at the half to lead the Warriors; Thompson scored 12 points.
Tale of the Tape
Warriors
- Field-goal percentage: 52.3% (45-86)
- Three-point percentage: 50.0% (19-38)
- Rebounds: 46
- Assists: 29
- Turnovers: 13
Mavericks
- Field-goal percentage: 41.8% (41-98)
- Three-point percentage: 33.3% (10-30)
- Rebounds: 42
- Assists: 24
- Turnovers: 8
Good to Know
Stephen Curry has his second career 50-point game with 51. The Splash Brothers have half of the 50-point games in the NBA this season.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) February 5, 2015
#Warriors have outscored the #Mavs 90-58 since Mavs were up 40-18 with 1:21 to go in the first period.
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) February 5, 2015
No team in the NBA has more wins when trailing by 15 or more over the last 3 seasons than the Warriors, who have 12. Suns are 2nd with 11.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 5, 2015
What’s on Tap
It’s the marquee matchup on Friday, as the Warriors take on the Hawks on the road, a battle of the two best teams in each conference.