Shorthanded, High-Scoring Affair Ends in Victory
With three recent injuries to Warriors that have played at center, Golden State had just nine active players with none listed as taller than 6’7”.
And it was one of Steve Kerr’s taller players – reaching his loftiest heights in a rollercoaster season – that stole the show in the team’s highest-scoring game of the campaign.
Behind a career-high 40 points from Kelly Oubre Jr. on 14-of-21 shooting and 7-of-10 from long range, the Golden State Warriors (12-10) defeated the Dallas Mavericks (9-14) 147-116 in the first of two matchups in Dallas.
The Warriors had 37 assists on 51 made field goals, including 15 assists by Draymond Green in just three quarters. Green ended the game as one of only three players in NBA history to start at center and record at least 15 assists.
Golden State trailed at halftime, but its lead ballooned to 14 points at the end of the third quarter, as the Warriors led 110-96. Their 110 points through three quarters were more than Golden State had scored through the end of 11 of its previous 21 contests.
With Stephen Curry and Green on the bench, the Warriors began the fourth quarter on a 20-7 run to put the game out of reach and keep the two starters off of the floor for the entire final period.
Before Golden State pulled away with Thursday’s game, however, the first half was more of a back-and-forth affair.
The first quarter saw a 9-0 run for the Mavericks followed by an 11-0 run by the road side to make the score 16-11 with 6:58 left in the period.
Curry paced Golden State with 15 first-quarter points on three 3-pointers, while Luka Doncic countered with 13 points despite early foul trouble as the Warriors took a 36-34 lead into the second period. Curry had a quiet 28 points and was +19, while Doncic led Dallas with 27 points but was a game-low -28 on the court.
Oubre first came alive in the second quarter, finishing the half with a team-high 22 points as Andrew Wiggins started the contest 0-of-9 from the field.
The two sides combined for 150 points in the first half, with the Warriors and Mavericks shooting 47.1% and 51.1% from the field, respectively. Dallas took a 76-74 lead into the locker room, and the two teams combined for 26 made threes, the most in a half in the NBA this season.
Oakland’s own Juan Toscano-Anderson got the start – lining up to take the opening tip – and scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a team-high 40 minutes. Toscano-Anderson was inserted into the starting five after Eric Paschall was ruled out with right-knee soreness, compounding Golden State’s injury issues with bigs James Wiseman and Kevon Looney still sidelined due to injury.
As the Warrior with the most experience at center, Green complemented his passing frenzy with a season-high 11 points in a game highlighted by an and-1 dunk over Doncic and a pass to Curry perfectly threading the needle for an assist.
Dallas went 15-of-29 in the first half from distance, but regressed to its three-point shooting that entered the game the worst in the league – the Mavericks were just 5-of-21 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Kristaps Porzingis – who lived largely on the perimeter despite his size advantage – and Tim Hardaway Jr. both hit five triples, while Damion Lee hit four of his own to lead the Dubs in bench-scoring with 17 points.
Dallas will have a chance to exact revenge in the second leg of the doubleheader, hosting Golden State at 5:30 p.m. for Saturday primetime action.