The Golden State Warriors rallied to upset the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 on Friday, taking control of their NBA Western Conference finals series. Stephen Curry scored 32 points.
The Warriors rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half to win in San Francisco, putting the six-time NBA champions up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Curry may have led the Warriors in scoring, but Golden State’s amazing turnaround was due entirely to a tenacious team effort and astute second-half changes by coach Steve Kerr.
Six Golden State players scored in double figures, including Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, and Andrew Wiggins, who all made key contributions.
With a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, Looney led the way.
After the first-half onslaught by Dallas, Kerr implored his players to find “poise.”
“I told them that if we developed some poise in the second half that the game would come to us,” Kerr said afterward.
“I thought we were so scattered in the first half, maybe emotionally more than anything. Dallas came out and punched us.
“We knew they were going to come out strong and they were fantastic. They played harder and executed better.
“We just needed to get poised and get the game under control. We felt confident that if we did that, they wouldn’t make 15 three-pointers in the second half. And that if they did, you just had to pat them on the back.”
Luka Doncic scored 42 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out eight assists for Dallas, while Jalen Brunson added 31 points.
The night and the triumph, though, belonged to the Warriors, who had been stunned by Dallas in the first half.
The Mavericks scored 72 points in the first two quarters, leading by 14 points at halftime, 72-58.
Aggressive Doncic
Doncic led the offensive barrage with 24 points in the first half, while Brunson scored 20 points on four three-pointers.
Reggie Bullock was also deadly from three-point range in the first half, nailing four of his five attempts.
Dallas led from the start, with Doncic putting them up 5-0 before a 13-0 run had them up 23-8 with only a few minutes remaining.
The Warriors responded with a 13-0 run of their own to come within three points at 26-23, but Dallas pulled away with deadly long-range shooting once more.
During the first half, Dallas made 15 of 27 three-pointers, nearly double the Warriors’ eight-of-15.
On the stroke of halftime, Doncic put on a spectacular show with a 29-foot three-pointer.
In the third quarter, though, the Warriors regained control of the game, chipping away at the Mavs’ advantage to pull within two points, 85-83, heading into the fourth.
Early in the fourth quarter, a three-pointer by Otto Porter Jr. gave the Warriors their first lead of the night, 86-85, and with their noses in front, Golden State was unstoppable.
The Warriors outscored Dallas 43-32 in the fourth quarter to seal a dramatic victory as the series continues to Texas on Sunday for game three.
In the third quarter, Dallas coach Jason Kidd lamented his team’s strategy of continuing to shoot from three-point range. In the third, the Mavs were only 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
“We have to understand, when we shoot three or four threes in a row and miss, you’ve got to get to the rim and got to get the ball into the paint,” Kidd said.
Kidd noted that Dallas had trailed 2-0 to Phoenix in the previous round of the playoffs before recovering to win 4-3.
“We’re on the road against one of the best teams in the league,” Kidd said.
“It happens. They held serve. We’ve seen this in Phoenix so now we have to go back and just focus on game three and get ready for game three, understanding what’s at stake.”
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