The Golden State Warriors’ last two offensive possessions came down to Curry and Thompson behind the 3-point line. Every time, Steve Kerr dreams about such a scenario. Warriors lose 116-113 in a wild game to Dallas Mavericks, ending Warriors’ win streak and ending the Mavs’ streak.
The playoff atmosphere is a bit stretched at the end of November. It was an exciting confrontation between the two teams who squared off in last season’s Western Conference Finals. The biggest stars, Curry and Doncic, attended. The Warriors’ bench allowed them to fly home on a positive note despite the loss.
” Mark Cuban grins as he walks through the tunnel.
To define this battle of Western Conference foes, you would probably pick The Proclaimers or Vanessa Carlton. It doesn’t matter which song you choose. Just click “Play.”
With the NBA suddenly taking travel seriously, the referees picked a pretty bad time to call one of the game’s biggest stars. Curry’s two-foot stop with 10.1 seconds left and pivot foot move was called a travel.
Curry took responsibility for the play despite not exactly agreeing with it at the time.
In response to the loss, Curry remarked, “Bang, bang situation.” The hero shot was the right decision. The time and score were a bit confusing.
Until you don’t let the play go, I didn’t think it was a trip.”
During Tuesday night’s travels, 10 trips were called. The Mavs won three games and the Golden State Warriors won seven.
Although this is a recent development for the Warriors, it isn’t entirely new. Several travel calls have gone against them recently. Consistency is all Kerr cares about.
It is a matter of calls being calls,” Kerr stated. There are some that go your way, some that don’t. So the NBA is emphasizing travel plays like that.
“We will need to call that now because individuals change pivot feet 30 times per game.”
Thompson’s attempt with 4.1 seconds left was missed as well.
The Curry and Jordan Poole screens left Klay wide open behind the 3-point line on the left wing. In Kerr’s play call, everything was working perfectly. Until Thompson let go of the ball.
After a back-and-forth fight in Dallas, the sharpshooter came just short.
This was Curry’s 13th 30-point game of the season. Moreover, Draymond Green scored 12 points, the most of any starter. Combined, Wiggins and Thompson scored 15 points. On the long distance shot, they each made one out of six attempts.
With 41 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, Doncic continued to hammer the Warriors.
After their starters left themselves in a tremendous hole in the first quarter, the Golden State Warriors’ bench flipped the script. Fans, coaches and teammates alike have been biting their fingers all season hoping things won’t worsen.
As a matter of fact, it was the opposite this time around. In the second quarter, they outscored the Mavs by eight, and by two before Curry came back for the fourth quarter.
As a Warrior, Jonathan Kuminga played one of his best games. His first double-double of the season and third of his career came off the bench as he played 26 minutes. Despite being a plus-21, he had the best plus/minus of the team.
DiVincenzo repeatedly put his body on the line. Six points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two assists for a plus-15.
Even though Poole scored just nine points, he had nine assists, and he played active defense all game long. As a plus-13, Anthony Lamb had 11 points, two 3-pointers, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal to help the Warriors open the second quarter.
Among the bench players, only JaMychal Green had a plus/minus of -10. During his eight minutes of action, the veteran big man had a minus-2 rating.
After 22 games, the second unit is forming an identity. Draymond, who is helping Kerr lead that group into the second and fourth quarters, is equally pleased over that development.
According to Green, the bench and second unit have been experiencing different levels of comfort. You know what’s coming, you know who you’re playing with, and you’re learning more about them.
You can look at the pluses and minuses tonight. Their confidence is back. With the second group, it was waning a bit. So it’s good. You can see that the whole second unit was positive, and the first unit was negative. It wasn’t possible two weeks ago.
” It wasn’t possible two weeks ago. It’s uplifting to see these guys start to figure it out and come along, because ultimately it will lead to us winning more games this year. In addition, it ensures that guys get enough rest so they don’t exhaust themselves in Game 22. I think it’s wonderful..”
In their view, moral victories aren’t important. That shouldn’t even be asked. For them, winning the NBA Finals is all that matters.
In reality, the ball didn’t bounce in their favor. There was no sense that it was a disastrous loss, though. This is another building block for a team that believes in the months to come as opposed to the first two months.
It was a showdown fans wanted. I cannot wait until Feb. 4 to see these teams face off again. After the wait, we’ll know much more about each team.
