Without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, Warriors overpowered by Mavericks
Dallas scored 68 points in the paint

>Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic works againts Golden State Warriors
guard Gary Payton II (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game
in Dallas, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Danny Emerman is a Bay Area News Group sports reporter
By DANNY EMERMAN | demerman@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2024 at 7:56 p.m. | UPDATED: March 14, 2024 at 7:41
a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/03/13/warriors-mavericks-steph-curry-draymond-overpowered/

DALLAS — The Warriors cooled off a red-hot Luka Doncic and enjoyed a
horrendous Mavericks 3-point shooting night, but didn’t have enough
firepower to keep up with the formidable Mavs in the American Airlines
Center.

Doncic, who entered the game averaging 35.8 points, 11.2 assists and
11.0 rebounds in March, registered 21 points and nine rebounds. Dallas
shot 6-for-27 (22.2%) from 3, but made up for it by racking up 68 points
in the paint.

Golden State was without Steph Curry (ankle sprain) and Draymond Green,
who was a late scratch with low back soreness. Their absences left the
scoring burden on Jonathan Kuminga (game-high 27 points) and a void of
physicality on both ends that Dallas took full advantage of. Center
Daniel Gafford tallied seven of Dallas’ 13 blocks, looming as a constant
deterrent at the rim.

“Our defense was not the problem,” Steve Kerr said postgame. “It was
much more our offense. They had 13 blocked shots, a lot of that was just
us wildly driving in at Gafford without getting a body into him first to
take him out of his shot-blocking position. And then just a lot of
stagnant possessions. Not enough flow, not enough movement.”

The 109-99 loss could have big implications down the road for the
Warriors (34-31), who trail Dallas in the Western Conference play-in
standings. The two teams have two more matchups remaining this season,
games that could end up determining crucial seeding.

The Warriors played Dallas tough early, unexpectedly drawing the first
quarter. Without Curry and Green, Golden State was a heavy underdog. But
Kuminga was decisive offensively, dropping 10 in the first frame by
consistently attacking. The wing needed only nine minutes to reach
double figures for the 43rd time in his past 45 games.

In the first half, Kuminga went 6-for-10. His teammates shot 10-for-33.

The biggest reason Golden State was able to hang in the low-scoring
game, though, was Dallas’ shooting struggles. The Mavericks hit only one
of their first 17 attempts from behind the arc.

As the Mavericks struggled from the outside, both they and the Warriors
traded dueling 13-2 runs in the second quarter. When Dallas threatened
to run away with it, Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis made key plays.

Dallas’ size at every position gave Golden State issues all night. The
Mavericks scored 40 of their first 54 points in the paint. Daniel
Gafford and Dereck Lively each swatted several shots at the rim into the
stands.

Golden State kept Luka Doncic in check for the first half, a nearly
impossible feat. By throwing a variety of on-ball defenders at him,
staying disciplined on his pump fakes and loading up on the weak side
for help in the lane, the Warriors forced Doncic to start 5-for-15.

The Warriors ended Doncic’s streak of seven straight triple-doubles, six
of which he’d scored at least 30 points in.

In the third, Doncic started figuring the Warriors out. He scored an
and-1 in the post through Brandin Podziemski, then drilled a step-back
3. Yet Golden State withstood, entering the fourth facing a six-point
deficit.

Doncic started the fourth quarter on the bench, giving the Warriors an
opportunity to make a run. Instead, Dallas shut Golden State down,
blitzing them for a 16-4 haymaker.

“We just didn’t cut the water off,” Kuminga said. “I feel like that’s
where we lost the game, they just came out hot.”

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Like it did all game for Dallas, just about everything came inside —
both from their bigs and a slashing Kyrie Irving (23 points, 10 assists,
eight rebounds). Dallas shot 34-for-45 in the paint and limited Golden
State to 24-of-50 from the same range, exhibiting force inside.

“Just kind of got away from us,” Podziemski said. “Just not getting back
in transition, a lot of their buckets were in transition. Whether it was
hitting 3s or throwing the ball to Lively or Gafford at the rim and
dunking it.”

The Mavericks built such a comfortable lead, they didn’t even need
Doncic in the fourth quarter. At one point, he walked towards the
scorer’s table to check in, but the team later said he was experiencing
hamstring soreness.

They still got 29 minutes from their superstar, compared to Golden
State’s zero.