What we learned as Dubs lose third straight, fall to Mavs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
DALLAS – The energy and spirit the Warriors lacked Tuesday in Minnesota arrived in full Thursday night in Dallas, but it was not enough to overcome Luka Doncic and the Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
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Doncic torched the Warriors on Thursday night. The 23-year-old star put the moves on Gary Payton II, easily got past Andrew Wiggins and found little issue with Klay Thompson on him. Doncic controlled the game from the opening tip, finishing the game with 41 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
The Mavericks got out to a big lead behind Doncic, but the Warriors scrapped and clawed their way back, erasing a 16-point lead to tie the game with five minutes to play.
But Doncic and the Mavericks closed the game on an 18-9 run to knock off the Warriors 122-113.
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Here are three observations from the Warriors’ tough loss in Dallas.
Returning the favor
Five days ago, the Warriors held a 21-point lead against the Mavericks at Chase Center and let a win slip through their fingers.
On Thursday, it was the Warriors’ turn to flip the script on the Mavs.
Golden State trailed by 16 in the first half but didn’t allow the Mavericks to swell the lead to 20. The Warriors slowly started chipping away in the second half, cutting the lead to seven at multiple points in the third quarter.
The Warriors entered the fourth quarter trailing by eight but quickly erased that deficit, opening the final frame on a 13-5 that was capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers by Moses Moody to knot the game at 104.
But the rally was not to be completed. Doncic steadied the Mavs and Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith made big baskets down the stretch to make the Warriors’ comeback effort all for naught.
Defensive issues remain
When the Warriors blew a 21-point lead to the Mavericks last Sunday their defense was guilty of getting beat constantly at the point of attack and overhelping.
It was much of the same Thursday night in Dallas.
With Doncic controlling the pace, the Mavericks were able to get just about anything they wanted. Doncic was able to beat whoever was in front of him, probe the paint, force the Warriors to collapse and then kick it out and force Golden State into scramble mode.
The Warriors had a difficult time keeping Doncic or anyone else in front of them. They gave up too many easy looks from distance and were beaten by Dwight Powell at the rim far too often.
The Mavericks scored 68 points on 57.5 percent shooting (61.0 from deep) in the first half. They had 99 points after three quarters.
On the night, the Mavericks notched 29 assists on 45 field goals.
The Warriors’ defensive energy and fight was much improved from Tuesday night’s loss to the Timberwolves, but Golden State still has a lot to iron out on that end. (Paging, Draymond Green.)
Life from Poole and Wiggins
While it was another frustrating night for the Warriors, there was a lone bright spot.
Poole, who just went through a rough February and has been working on “playing through” his fluctuating role, finally seemed to snap out of his funk in Dallas.
The third-year guard scored 16 points in the first half on 5-for-9 shooting in 16 bench minutes to keep the Warriors within arm’s length of the red-hot Mavs.
Poole finished the game as the Warriors’ leading scorer with 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting. After back-to-back tough outings, it was good to see Poole regain his confidence and energy on the offensive end of the floor. The Warriors need his punch off the bench to operate at maximum offensive efficiency.
It was a tough start to the game for Andrew Wiggins. The All-Star forward missed his first four shots, all of which were jumpers.
After a first-quarter timeout from Steve Kerr, Wiggins started attacking downhill and that seemed to get him into a rhythm.
It still wasn’t a great shooting night for Wiggins, but he scored 17 points and showed signs of the more aggressive Wiggins the Warriors saw early in the season.
