SAN FRANCISCO – For the third time in these playoffs, the Mavericks are behind 1-0 in a series.
This time, however, it seems a lot less end-of-the-world-ish.
No panic buttons are needed after their 112-87 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the opener of the Western Conference finals. We’ve seen this before. And we won’t be fooled into thinking it’s a precursor to doomsday like so many national analysts were when it happened the first two times.
Even it was a textbook blowout. It still counts for only one loss.
The Mavericks fell behind 1-0 in the first round against Utah. In the conference semis, they were down 2-0 to Phoenix.
Both times they rallied to win four of the next five games and claim the series.
But with that said, that was then. This is now. And things will have to change for the Mavericks to put Wednesday’s debacle behind them.
This was big-boy basketball on the Warriors’ behalf at a loud, hostile Chase Center hard along the bay.
“We’ve always found a way to answer, so we don’t have to look too far but at ourselves of how we’ve gotten better,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve lost two games in a row on the road and found a way to get back in the series. We’ve lost the first game (at home) and gotten back into the series.
“This is one game. They did their part. Now we’ve got to figure out — again, making shots helps our defense, but give them credit, they were good tonight.”
The shotmaking was simply not there in Game 1. The Mavericks hit just 11-of-48 3-pointers. Spencer Dinwiddie guesstimated that 40 of them were good looks.
So making 11 was not good enough. Overall, the Mavericks shot 36 percent. Tack on the 51-35 rebounding deficit and they were out of this one quickly after halftime.
“There were a lot of great looks that just didn’t go down,” Kidd said. “It happens. It’s basketball. Hopefully we get those same looks in Game 2, and we believe we’ll make them.
“When you shoot 48 threes, we’ve got to make some, and we just didn’t make them.”
The Mavericks have been resilient all season and especially so in the playoffs. Yes, this game became non-competitive in the second half. But it was still only one loss.
“Yeah, we’ve been in this position before,” said Jalen Brunson, who had `3 points, but missed all five of his 3-pointers. “We’re not going to dwell on it, but at the same time, we know that we have to get better. We have to be better.”
That goes for everybody.
Luka Dončić had just 20 points and only two after halftime as the Warriors threw Andrew Wiggins first, then multiple other defenders at the Mavericks’ superstar point guard. He ended up 6-of-18 from the field.
“Of course this is going to be tough,” Dončić said. “It’s the West finals. They’re a championship team. They know what this is about. They’ve been through the bad and the good. It’s going to be really tough.
“But we believe. It’s Game 1. Somebody’s got to get to four wins first. It’s going to be a good series.”
The Warriors got a balanced attack led by Steph Curry but augmented nicely by Wiggins and, after failing to score in the first half, by Klay Thompson with 11 third-quarter points that helped put the Mavericks in a 22-point hole that eliminated all hope for them in the fourth quarter.
They’ve been here before, obviously. If the Mavericks have shown anything during the playoff run – and throughout this season, really – it’s that they are resilient beyond question. And one win does not make a series.
They call it a best-of-seven for a reason.
However, the Mavericks clearly have a lot of fixing to do. They got blasted in the rebounding department, gave up way too many points in the paint and were too reliant on 3-pointers that didn’t fall.
And the Warriors’ trio of Curry, Thompson and Jordan Poole, while very good at times, did not overwhelm the Mavericks’ group of Luka Dončić, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie. It was Wiggins (19 points and great defense on Luka) and the rebounding of both Draymond Green and Curry (who had 12) that helped the Warriors draw first blood in this series.
“I thought Wigs was fantastic,” Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said. “Doncic is as difficult a cover as there is in this league and we just asked Wigs to try to hound him and guard him as best as he could. And he did a fantastic job.”
The first game of a playoff series always produces some unexpected twists. But this one mostly gave us what we expected.
The Warriors were trying to get the ball out of Dončić’s hands and the Mavericks were trying to do the same to Curry.
Neither strategy was met with much success. In fact, both teams only tried it moderately before realizing others would end up burning them.
What it came down to after a competitive first half after which the Mavericks trailed 54-45 was that they could muster just 42 points in the second half, getting outscored by 16.
When you shoot 31.8 percent in the first half, you’re probably lucky to only be behind 54-45.
Still, the Warriors were expecting a battle after halftime. But when Curry came out of the locker room with two 3-pointers and Thompson got his first points of the game, the Warriors busted open a 64-47 advantage.
It got no prettier for the Mavericks the rest of the way.
Twitter: @ESefko
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