If the Dallas Mavericks wind up as the No. 4 seed – or better – in the Western Conference this season, they may
look back on what transpired Sunday at the Chase Center as the moment things turned around.
In a game against the Golden State Warriors that was close to getting out of hand, the Mavs did a complete 180 and got out of San Francisco with a stunning 107-101 victory. Stunning, because the Mavs trailed, 73-52, with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter, and appeared on their way to suffering their second straight defeat.
Stunning, because the Warriors had won 62 games in a row when they led by as much as 20 points. But as coach Jason Kidd said: “To sum it up — character. There was no quit in the group. Everybody played until the end.
“We talked about it at halftime. We didn’t play well, we weren’t executing the game plan (and) we had too many turnovers.”
However, when it counted the most, the Mavs stitched everything neatly together in crunch time and outscored the Warriors in the fourth quarter (33-13).
“This was a character environment culture win for us in a sense that no one quit,” Kidd said. “Everybody kept fighting and we found a way to win and that’s what good teams do.”
Here are our five takeaways from the six-point win over the Warriors.
DINWIDDIE DID DINWIDDIE THINGS: Now are you on board with the trade that brought Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans from the Washington Wizards earlier this month for Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round draft pick? If Sunday’s showing by Dinwiddie didn’t convince you, I just don’t know what will. Dinwiddie was at the heart of that miraculous comeback by the Mavs as he made a strong case for becoming the No. 2 man behind Luka Doncic, which is the spot Porzingis used to occupy. With the Mavs struggling to find some offense, Dinwiddie took charge by scoring 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Dinwiddie finished the night with 24 points, four rebounds and five assists, and was 10-of-14 from the field. In the frantic fourth quarter, he was 4-of-5 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from three-point land. All of this came one game after Dinwiddie poured in 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Friday’s contest in Utah.
DEFENSE REDEEMED ITSELF: After getting completely torched for almost two-and-half quarters Sunday, the Mavs’ defense finally woke up, fought back and showed the Warriors the nice things they’ve been doing this season to garner some league-wide attention. After Golden State sprinted out to a seemingly comfortable 73-52 lead with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter following a three-pointer by Stephen Curry, the Mavs barely allowed the Warriors any breathing room thereafter. Now only did the Mavs outscore the Warriors, 55-28, the remainder of the game. But they did so while suffocating one of the NBA’s premier offenses, while also battering the league’s No. 1 defense. The 21-point comeback represented the largest of the season for the Mavs, eclipsing the 20-point comeback they staged during a 104-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 28.
DONCIC OVERCAME STRUGGLES: Give Luka Doncic credit. The three-time All-Star had a whole bunch of struggles for a long
period of time Sunday. But when the Mavs needed Doncic the most, he delivered in the clutch as he does the majority of the time. Once the Mavs grabbed a 95-94 lead – their first of the game – Doncic took over from there as he showed why he is one the game’s top five players. Not only did the four-year veteran score nine of the Mavs’ final 12 points. He also assisted on the other three points when he fired a pass to Spencer Dinwiddie, who tossed in a three-pointer to put the Mavs up, 100-94. It was vintage Doncic, who had four of his nine turnovers at the outset of the game when the Mavs fell behind, 27-12. But leave it to Doncic to use his high basketball IQ to figure things out as he finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
FINNEY-SMITH BOUNCED BACK: One game after he was apologetic for his poor performance in Friday’s five-point loss to the Utah Jazz, Dorian Finney-Smith made amends with a solid all-around performance against the Warriors. And Finney-Smith did most of his damage right when the Mavs seized control of this game. Down 93-83, the Mavs went on a 12-1 run during a four-minute span to take the lead (95-94) for good on a tip-in by Finney-Smith with 3:26 remaining in the game. Finney-Smith tallied seven points during that surge – Spencer Dinwiddie scored the other five – and was very resourceful during the Mavs’ stunning comeback. The seven points were the same amount of points that Finney-Smith scored in the loss to the Jazz when he also had a game-low plus/minus ratio of minus 20. On Sunday, Finney-Smith collected 14 points and nine rebounds and had a plus/minus ratio of plus nine.
JOSH GREEN’S IMPACT: Often, it’s the little things that makes the difference between winning and losing. Those intangibles like diving on the floor and securing loose balls, winning the 50/50 plays, deflecting passes, taking a charge, running and being the trail person on a fast break and successfully scoring when a teammate misses a layup. All of that can result in a win instead of a loss. And that’s where Josh Green comes into play. The second-year swingman unlikely will ever lead the Mavs in scoring this season. But those aforementioned intangibles? Those are right in Green’s wheelhouse. And that proved pivotal Sunday as Green scored all six of his points during the Mavs’ magical run in the fourth quarter. He also finished the game with a pair of rebounds and a plus/minus ratio of plus 12 in just 13 minutes.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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