On numerous occasions Sunday night at the Chase Center, the Dallas Mavericks appeared like they were
still chilling out with their family on their All-Star break.
Their shots weren’t falling, their turnovers were stacking a mile high, and their defense was atrocious. But that’s why coaches always say play until the final buzzer.
And that’s exactly what the Mavs did as they rallied from a huge 21-point deficit in the third quarter and went on to stun the highly-touted Golden State Warriors, 107-101. After the sluggish way the Mavs played for better than three quarters, it was a victory no one saw coming.
“This was a character environment culture win for us in a sense that no one quit,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Everybody kept fighting and we found a way to win and that’s what good teams do.”
That “character environment culture win” kept the Mavs (36-25) within two-and-a-half games of Utah (38-22) for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Earlier on Sunday, the Jazz went to Phoenix and upset the Suns, 118-114.
For the majority of the game, the Warriors had everything going their way. The crowd was all lathered up, Golden State seized the momentum from the start, and the Mavs looked flatter than four tires with a bunch of nails in them.
A three-pointer by Stephen Curry (27 points) increased the Warriors’ lead to 73-52 with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter, all appeared lost for the Mavs. Then, as quick as the weather changes in Texas, everything changed for the better for the Mavs.
Shots started falling, the defense picked up, the momentum flipped, and newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie looked like he should have 
been starting in last week’s All-Star game.
With Luka Doncic struggling, a group headed by Josh Green, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie got the Mavs back in the game. And after Curry drilled a triple to get the Warriors within 104-101 of the Mavs with 9.9 seconds left, Doncic nailed three free throws to close out the scoring on this improbable victory.
Doncic, who finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine turnovers, credits the bench as being the catalyst for helping the Mavs finish the game on an impressive 33-8 run.
“Those guys played amazing,” Doncic said. “Everybody who stepped on the court had something to do (with the win).
“My start almost cost us the game – the way I started. So I’ve got to be better on that.”
Dinwiddie kept the Mavs afloat by tallying 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Doncic delivered nine points and five rebounds in the final quarter.
Also, Dorian Finney-Smith poured in seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. And Josh Green added six fourth-quarter points as the Mavs totally silenced the sellout crowd when they grabbed this game by the throat and didn’t let go.
“As great as (the Warriors) are with runs, sometimes they do give them up,” said Dinwiddie, who was 10-of-14 from the field. “Like coach Kidd said, we wanted to continue to have fight. Other than that, I think the big thing is when we probably cut it to single digits.
“I think psychologically when you look at it and you see (a) nine (point deficit) instead of like 13 – even though that’s a four-point swing – you’re still like, “Ok, we’re right here, we’re a couple of shots in it.”
The Warriors were 62-0 in their last 62 games when they’ve held a lead of 20 or more points. That stat has now dropped to 62-1 thanks to what the Mavs were able to accomplish on Sunday.
A drive and basket by Dinwiddie completed a 16-0 run and got the Mavs within 93-90 of the Warriors with 6:31 remaining in the game. A pair of baskets by Finney-Smith gave the Mavs — they registered their largest comeback of the season — their first lead of the game at 95-94 with 3:26 left.
Doncic then drained a jumper and Dinwiddie drilled a three-pointer via a feed from Doncic as the Mavs went up, 100-94, with 1:42 to go. Doncic, who turns 23 years old on Monday, scored again as the Mavs moved ahead, 102-96, with 1:09 left.
‘The pressure was on (the Warriors),” Kidd said. “They had the lead the whole game (and) they dominated.
“But the guys kept playing and kept believing that they could find a way to win.”
Early on, the Mavs looked totally out of sorts. With Doncic committing four early turnovers, the Warriors (43-18) jumped out to a 27-12 lead and were still nursing a 60-48 cushion at intermission.
Doncic even picked up his league-high tying 13th technical foul of the season, and Davis Bertans also received a technical foul for saying something to the referees – while he was on the bench.
Asked when he said to the referees to receive his technical foul, Doncic said: “I said I’m going to twist my ankle. That’s the only thing I said.
“I decided I’m not going to talk to anybody anymore. I’m getting frustrated. Just don’t talk to anybody.”
Despite the frustrations, the Mavs stayed connected and will go into Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles against the Lakers with tons of momentum.
“Tonight in that first half we looked like we hadn’t met each other yet,” Kidd said. “But I thought in the second half we were executing the game plan defensively and offensively.
“I think I said coming out of the (All-Star) break sometimes you just don’t pick up where you left off — it’s going to take some games. And in that second half that was more like we’ve been playing in the first half of the season.”
Doncic sure righted himself in the fourth quarter after the Mavs got back in the game.
“We all know he’s great,” Finney-Smith said of Doncic. “I felt like they had a great game plan. Early in the game they weren’t leaving the corners and he kept trying to find us, but they weren’t leaving the corners.
“But I feel like in that fourth quarter he took some shots instead of trying to find guys. So you can’t really be mad when he’s turning it over trying to find you.”
And with Jalen Brunson, Doncic and Dinwiddie on the court together, the Mavs effectively had three point guards operating in the
fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Dinwiddie was spot-on the way he kept the Warriors off guard.
“If (Dinwiddie) didn’t play the whole fourth (quarter) we were going to ride him, because he was going (good),” Kidd said. “He never asked for come out, which is kind of cool because all the point guards don’t want to come out.”
The victory somewhat eased the pain of Friday’s 114-109 loss in Utah.
“I’m just happy we got the win tonight,” Finney-Smith said. “But hopefully we can get this next one (against the Lakers), especially after that loss in Utah.
“I’m happy we found a way to pull this one out.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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