Golden State Warriors starters, not bench, to blame for Dallas Mavericks loss

The Golden State Warriors’ bench has been to blame for a number of shortcomings this season, yet this time around, it was they who gave the team a chance to defeat the Dallas Mavericks at American Airline Center on Tuesday.

Unfortunately the starters were unable to hold up their end of the bargain, with Mavericks’ superstar Luka Doncic proving too much in a 41-point triple-double.

The Golden State Warriors starters were unable to capitalize on a strong bench performance in a 116-113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Golden State had their chances late in the game — back-to-back threes from Jonathan Kuminga and Stephen Curry gave them a lead with just over two minutes remaining, and they had two late chances in the final ten seconds. Firstly, with the Warriors down two, Curry was controversially called for a travel on a three-point attempt. Then, after Dorian Finney-Smith missed his second free-throw, Klay Thompson had a great open look to send the game to overtime, only to leave his attempt short.

The Warriors had made things tough for themselves by falling behind 23-6 to open the game. They made just two of their first 12 field-goal attempts and compounded that by some foul issues on the defensive end in the first period.

But after trailing by 12 at the conclusion of one, it was the Golden State bench that turned the momentum of the game. Steve Kerr made a slight shift by running with Jonathan Kuminga rather than Andrew Wiggins, meaning Draymond Green was the only starter. They would go on a 16-6 run as Dallas’ offense had little to give without Doncic.

The teams went back and forth to close the second and then throughout the third, with the Mavericks holding a five-point lead entering the final 12 minutes. That quickly evaporated though as the Warriors began the fourth on a 13-4 run, aided by a flagrant two foul on Spencer Dinwiddie as he collected Jordan Poole with a stray elbow.

Doncic was quickly rushed back to the floor as Dallas regained the lead, before the game became a real 50-50 proposition down the stretch. Curry had 32 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, but the team was an uncharacteristically -12 in his minutes.

The Warriors’ issues really fell to Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, both whom had cold nights after excellent recent form. The duo combined for just 15 points on 6-for-20 shooting including 2-for-12 from three-point range. Poole too only had nine points on 3-for-9 shooting but did dish out a team-high nine assists.

It was the performance of Kuminga that was the undoubted positive from a tough loss, with the second-year forward putting in a high-level two-way display. He entered the game and was immediately charged with the assignment of Doncic, looking like the Warriors best option against the Mavericks maestro throughout the game.

The 20-year-old finished with a double-double of 14 points and ten rebounds on an efficient 6-for-8 shooting to go with two blocks. He was also a team-high +21 to showcase the Warriors’ bench performance. Donte DiVincenzo had six points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and was a +15, while Anthony Lamb had 11 points, five rebounds and was a +13 in the game.

It may have been a tough loss that now takes the Warriors back to .500 with an 11-11 record, but the continued bench improvement was a sure positive to take with them moving forward, and the display from Kuminga was nothing short of exciting.