Warriors' forward haunts Mavericks again with huge bounceback performance

After an inconsistent season and a poor performance against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Andrew Wiggins rediscovered some of his 2022 playoff form to lead the Golden State Warriors to a clutch 104-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

Wiggins played a huge role in the Warriors' Western Conference Finals victory against the Mavericks two years ago, and the 29-year-old was back to haunt Jason Kidd's team again in spite of underwhelming scoring performances from teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Andrew Wiggins had a team-high 23 points as the Golden State Warriors strengthened their grip on the West's tenth-seed on Tuesday night

Curry and Thompson had just 27 combined points on 10-of-32 shooting, while the star Maverick backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving tallied 57 points on an efficient 21-of-41 shooting.

Yet Golden State had the better supporting cast, overcoming a 19-0 Dallas run from either side of half-time to record their fifth-straight win. Wiggins had a team-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

It was the Warrior bench though that may have had the game-defining impact, outscoring the Mavericks bench 39-13 behind 14 points and five assists from Chris Paul and four made threes from Moses Moody. Brandin Podziemski also recorded five points, 10 rebounds and five assists, finishing as a game-high +17 in nearly 31 minutes.

The Warriors held an 11-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining, but the seesaw battle took another turn when the Mavericks produced a 13-2 run to tie the game just over three minutes later.

Enter Draymond Green who, after a game-winning performance against the Spurs, had a couple of huge baskets and a clutch block on Daniel Gafford to re-establish an eight-point Golden State lead with a minute left.

While there were some nervous moments in the final 30 seconds, the Warriors held on to a four-point win that places them three games above the Houston Rockets for the Western Conference's tenth-seed.

Golden State shot 45.6% from the floor and 46.9% (15-of-32) from three-point range, while Dallas shot 43.8% from the floor and 37.5% from beyond the arc. Doncic had a 30-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist triple double for the visitors, but it wasn't enough against a team-orientated Warrior performance.

The win pushes the Warriors to a 41-34 record, with a battle against the Rockets at Toyoto Center on Thursday presenting as an opportunity to all but seal a Play-In Tournament position.