The NBA has many sayings that sum up the reason teams win or lose.

It’s a make or miss league, for example.

And it’s also a talent-wins league.

Both apply in the Western Conference finals.

The Mavericks have plenty of talent. But after falling into a 3-0 hole in the Western Conference finals, it’s clear that the Golden State Warriors have a few more arrows in their quiver.

That’s OK. The most talented team doesn’t always win. We’ve seen that firsthand in Dallas with the 2011 finals, when the Mavericks beat the supposed “superteam” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

But the point still is valid.

As Jason Kidd acknowledged: “We’re not going to match guy for guy, we got to throw our team at their team. (Andrew) Wiggins is a talented third. He’s an all-star.”

And the Warriors third option, if that. Yet he incinerated the Mavericks with 27 points and 11 rebounds in the 109-100 Game 3 win that put the Warriors on the brink of their sixth trip to the NBA finals in the last eight seasons.

And Game 3 was a snapshot of exactly how this series has gone. Here’s our takeaways from Sunday’s loss:

REBOUNDS HARD TO COME BY: The Mavericks have been outrebounded by at least 13 boards in all three games. They are averaging 32.7 retrievals in the three games. Golden State is averaging 47 rebounds per game. That’s a big reason why the Warriors have averaged 15.3 second-chance points and had 18 in Game 2. The Mavericks have averaged only 8.3 second-chance points. They take a lot of 3-point shots, which makes gauging where rebounds are going to be a bit more problematic. “A longer shot typically results in a higher percentage of long rebounds, so you definitely have to patrol that neutral zone, the high post and even short corners. That makes hitting a guy even more important, checking a guy and making sure he’s not coming in earlier.”

AND ABOUT THAT SHOOTING: The rebounding would be helped immeasurably if the Mavericks could make some shots. They were 13-of-45 from 3-point land (17-of-30 from inside the arc). The threesome of Davis Bertans, Reggie Bullock and Maxi Kleber were a combined 0-for-14 from 3-point range. Without a little help from the role players, it doesn’t really matter what Luka Dončić does.

BALL STICKING?  The Mavericks had just 18 assists. The Warriors had 28. That continued a bad trend. The Warriors had 10 more assists than the Mavericks in Game 1 and 11 more in Game 2. Clearly, the ball is hopping on the Warriors’ side. And of course, making shots in a make-or-miss league is vital. The Mavericks aren’t shooting the ball well, which has an obvious impact on assist numbers, in Game 2 they shot 47.4 percent and still had only 14 assists. On Sunday, they had one possession in the second quarter when Luka was on the bench when the ball touched the hands of all five players and a couple of them multiple times. They got a great look after getting the Warriors in a scramble mode defensively. That needs to happen more often.

BIG THREE VS. BIG THREE: It was basically a wash in the battle of both team’s best players. The group of Dončić, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie combined for 86 points and 20 rebounds. Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson teamed for 77 points and 23 rebounds (also 17 assists). The play of those players was essential, but the Mavericks got only 14 points from everybody else on their roster. That’s not going to cut it when the Warriors’ Jordan Poole, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney all are capable of scoring in double figures. And the Warriors played most of the game without Otto Porter Jr. after he left with a sore foot.

DON’T OVERTHINK IT: The Mavericks are down 3-0. We all know that no NBA team has ever climbed out of that abyss. And you won’t escape it thinking about needing four consecutive wins against arguably the best squad in the NBA over the last decade. Just win one. That’s all the Mavericks can do in Game 4. Extend the season and you never know what might happen.

Twitter: @ESefko

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