Final: Warriors 125, Mavs 122

Box Score | Highlights

Behind the Box Score

The Mavs had a strong second quarter on this floor earlier this season against the Warriors, and they followed it up with another good one tonight. Dallas scored 35 points in the second frame, shooting 60.0 percent from the field and getting to the free throw line eight times. That cut a nine-point deficit after the opening frame to just six at halftime.

Very loosely related to this game: After a long voting period in China, the Mavs revealed their new Chinese nickname to 独行侠 (DúXíngXiá), which translates roughly in English to “Lone Ranger Heroes.” You can read more about that process and the reasons behind it here.

Notebook

  • What a terrific game. Dallas tied it twice in the final minute but the Warriors answered both times, first via a Klay Thompson layup with 24.2 seconds left and then by a Steph Curry 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds left to give Golden State a 125-122 lead which would prove to be the final score. That was about as good as regular-season basketball will get. Ties, lead changes, insane shotmaking by both teams. You obviously want to see the result go the other way, but tonight the Mavericks proved that they can hang with the best team in the league.

  • This was an interesting game to watch Dennis Smith Jr. His jumper had been money in the previous three games, but tonight it produced mixed results. The problem there is Golden State was giving him room to shoot in exchange for building a wall to keep him out of the paint. In a few years, Smith will likely have developed a pretty nice pull-up shot that could eventually render that strategy obsolete, but in the meantime he’s got to iron out that J and then take the driving opportunities when they come. Oftentimes, that will mean pushing the ball early in the clock and trying to isolate against bigger players. He did that twice here.

    [wp_hyena imageurl=’https://www.mavs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dsj-against-draymond.gif’ data_hyena='{“slate”:”300,0.10,15″,”player_fade_speed”:”500″,”control_opacity”:”0,0.9″,”fade_speed”:”250,250″,”style”:2}’]

    [wp_hyena imageurl=’https://www.mavs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dsj-too-fast.gif’ data_hyena='{“slate”:”300,0.10,15″,”player_fade_speed”:”500″,”control_opacity”:”0,0.9″,”fade_speed”:”250,250″,”style”:2}’]

    [wp_hyena imageurl=’https://www.mavs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dsj-dunk.gif’ data_hyena='{“slate”:”300,0.10,15″,”player_fade_speed”:”500″,”control_opacity”:”0,0.9″,”fade_speed”:”250,250″,”style”:2}’]

    And once he gets it going downhill, he’s able to develop a rhythm to hit those jumpers.

    [wp_hyena imageurl=’https://www.mavs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dsj.gif’ data_hyena='{“slate”:”300,0.10,15″,”player_fade_speed”:”500″,”control_opacity”:”0,0.9″,”fade_speed”:”250,250″,”style”:2}’]

    He’s got a lot of games yet to play in his rookie season, and even more of them in the future. In time, and with work, he could discover counters to any and every defensive coverage. In the meantime, he’s got to continue what he’s doing best: attack.

  • Dwight Powell tied his career-high with 21 points tonight, and more promisingly he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and a mid-range jumper. Powell was terrific off the bench and flashed a little bit of everything — the rolling, the long jumper, and the in-between game. He’s quietly (and quickly) become one of the team’s most consistently productive players off the bench.

    What’s Next

    The Mavs (13-26) will play the Chicago Bulls (13-24) on Friday at American Airlines Center at 7:30 p.m. Central.

  • Share and comment

    More Mavs News