Aside from the first half of the third quarter, it was a very different looking Golden State Warriors that faced the Mavericks in Dallas on Wednesday night. You could argue it was reminiscent of the offensive display against the Denver Nuggets last Tuesday, but the game failed to produce the same exciting finish.
With the Mavericks celebrating Dirk Nowitzki’s jersey retirement ceremony, the Golden State Warriors failed to spoil the party as Dallas took a 99-82 win.
Both teams produced a stagnant first quarter offensively, totaling just 42 points as the teams were tied at 21 apiece. The Warriors continued their poor shooting in the second, combining with some sloppy turnovers to tally just 39 points in the opening half. It was the second time in three games that the Dubs had scored less than forty points in the first half, again resulting in a double digit deficit.
But the Warriors found something straight out of half time, with Stephen Curry nailing a triple after just five first half points. It lit the fire on a big Warrior run that, for a period, turned the outlook of the game.
Golden State scored 24 points in the first seven minutes of the third, much of it kickstarted by a defense that restricted the Mavericks to just six points in the same period. All seemed right again, the league leaders had finally turned up and quickly turned an 11 point deficit into a seven point lead.
Yet from there, the Warriors seemingly had nothing left to give. The seven point lead was quickly erased, and although the margin was only one with just under nine minutes remaining, the Dubs fell with the kind of whimper that’d been scarcely seen, if at all, through the first 36 games of the season.
The game did signify the importance of the absent Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., but there was no real excuse for scoring just 82 points, even if it was against the sixth best defense in the league.
Curry continued a run of poor shooting displays, going 5-24 from the field and 1-9 from deep for just 14 points. The Warriors as a team shot 40.7% from three and a measly 17.9% from three, whilst also conceding ten more free throws in what continues to be an ongoing issue.
Fortunately for Golden State, they’ll have the chance to respond quickly as they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back. They’ll likely have to do so without Curry, who’s likely to miss to game after sustaining a quad contusion.