Dallas Mavericks 110-120 Golden State Warriors: Thompson leads Warriors to Finals, summary score, stats, highlights | Game 5 Western Conference Finals
The Golden State Warriors are headed back to the NBA Finals for the sixth time in the last eight years after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the Conference Finals. Klay Thompson had his breakout game of the postseason scoring 32 points in the 120-110 victory.
Thompson goes off in close out game
Steve Kerr’s side made no mistake about Thusday’s game after a sluggish outing in their first chance at a close out to the series in Game 4. The Warriors were looking to bury the Mavs early, and they did that with a knock out punch in the second quarter.
Klay Thompson has had a slow series, especially when it came to the first half in the opening four games on the conference finals. He wasted no time getting started for the Warriors in the close out game on Thursday night.
The Warriors stretched a five point first quarter lead to 17 at halftime after catching fire in the second. Thompson led the charge before halftime and went to the break with 19 as Golden State led 69-52.
Doncic more TOs that FGs in 1st half
Spencer Dinwiddie was the only one keeping the Mavs in the fight in the first half. He had 17 after two quarters, and Luka Doncic was held to just six points. Going into the break Doncic had more turnovers and field goals.
Dallas came to life in the third quarter as they gave the Warriors one last run for their money. Doncic and the Mavs went on a 15-0 run to close the gap to eight right before the quarter change.
That would be the closest the Mavs would come as the Warriors continued to find easy buckets thanks to some fantastic passing. Golden State had 36 assists on 45 made field goals in the Game 5 win.
Curry first ever WCF MVP
Thompson and Draymond Green led the way in the fourth quarter as Thompson continued to drain threes. He finished with eight deep balls on the night and joked that he should have 10 in the post game trophy celebration. Green had his high scoring night in the series with 17, 6 rebound and 9 assists.
Steph Curry had a sub par shooting night, going just 5-17 with 15 points on the night. That didn’t stop him from winning the first ever Western Conference Finals MVP named after legendary Laker Magic Johnson.
The Warriors will now have to wait for a winner in the Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat series. The Celtics can close out the series on Friday night in Boston.
Klay Thompson has had a long road to recovery, and the Warriors have had a long road back to the Finals. They are back fighting for a title for the first time since 2019.
Steph Curry is your first ever Western Conference Finals MVP
Nothing but respect after the series between two of the games best players
When Bjelica starts hitting threes, that's when you know the Warriors are rolling.
Wiggins was instrumental this series, and had 18 in Game 5. He will be a key for the Warriors in the Finals.
This was a summation of the night for the Warriors. Draymond doing everything. Thompson dropping one of his eight threes.
Time and time again the Warriors created easy buckets close to the rim thanks to the fantastic ball movement all night.
Draymond Green had his top scoring night in the series on Thursday. He posted 17 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists.
Moody is having quite a post season as a rookie. He ended the night with 7 points on the night.
Klay gave them the shimmy after dropping the three, taking a page out of Steph Curry's book.
The Warriors had 36 assists on 45 made FGs in Game 5.
Klay Thompson wasted no time getting into this game. He had 32 points in the close out game.
Steph Curry has won the Magic Johnson Trophy for Western Conference Finals MVP.
The trophy presentation is underway in Chase Center. The smiles are all around, but the Warriors will know the job is not done yet.
IT'S ALL OVER!!! The Warriors are going back to the NBA Finals.
Burke with another three ball. But that will do it
Brunson at the line and he hits two of two.
Poole going to the rack and he gets it to go.
Burke for three and the Mavs have their subs in the rest of the way.
It's Curry this time in the corner for three!! He has had quiet game today, but that should be enough to bury the Mavs.
Finney-Smith with a bucket around the iron.
Thompson for three after Looney sniffs out his 18th rebound. 32 points for Thompson and he's got 8 threes!!!
Green with another big bucket. He has become a source of offense in this close out game.
Doncic with the near impossible step back three ball. 4:00 to go and we have a 10 point game. Still plenty of time.
Timeout Warriors with 5:28 to go in the final quarter.
Wiggins with the FT line jumper after collecting a loose ball around the arc.
Dinwiddie fouled on the three ball and he hits two of three FTs.
Dinwiddie to the line and he hits two of two. That's 24 points off the bench for Dinwiddie.
Looney down low showing the soft touch off the glass. He's got a double double now with 10 and 14.
Dinwiddie fires a three ball and gets fouled. He comletes the 4 point play with the made FT.
Bjelica from deep after three offensive rebounds. Looney has 14 rebounds tonight.
Doncic with bodies all around, going right to the rim. He's got 25 on the night.
Thompson on the floater down the baseline and he's got 29 points.
Doncic with the impossible floater!! He was looking at the refs hoping for a whistle that didn't come. He's got 23 after that 15 point 3rd quarter.
Green to the iron and he's got 15 on the night, that's the most he's had this series.
Dinwiddie to the line hits one of one
Green taking it at Finney-Smith getting the lay up to go and the foul! FT is good and he's got 13 ponts, 4 rebs and 9 assists.
Wiggins with the baseline drive and jam!!! What a way to start a quarter.
We are at the end of the third quarter and the Mavs have clawed their way back into this game with a 15-2 run to end the third quarter.
Poole breaks the 15-0 run with a dash to the rack and the lay up.
Doncic fouled, and he hits one of two.
Doncic patient in the paint and the Mavs are on a 14-0 run.
Doncic to Finney-Smith down low.
Doncic connects on another STEP BACK THREE!!! The lead is down to 13.
Doncic with the step back long ball and the Mavs aren't done yet!
Bullock drops the three with the shot clock winding out. Three minutes left in the third. Mavs need to make a run to end the quarter.
Doncic to the line, and he hits one of two.
Thompson doing work down low this time. He's got 27 points.
Steph hits a technical FT after Poole was fouled before the inbound.
Kleber down low off a pretty pass from Luka.
Curry on the step back from the mid range.
Finney-Smith drops a three ball and the Mavs need some more of those and some stops on the other end.
Doncic into the lane and gets the bucket to go.
Curry on the floater down the lane.
Thompson to Looney with the jam. The way the Warriors are passing the ball is a work of art. Impossible to stop a team that are on the same wavelength like GS is tonight.
Timeout from San Fran with 7:00 to go in the third.
Brunson cork screwing to the iron and he gets the short jumper to go.
Curry blowing by Doncic and gets the lay in to go.
Finney-Smith puts it on the deck and takes is for a lay up.
Thompson from downtown again!!! He's got 7 threes tonight.
Doncic gets the bucket and the foul. FT is good, and Doncic has 9.
Wiggins this time with a higher degree of difficulty. Turning around and using the glass on the jumper.
Brunson at the line and he hits two of two.
The Warriros have 22 assists on 26 made FGs.
Wiggins sweeping across the paint and gets the runner to drop. Largest lead of the game tonight.
Green running the break and hits Thompson with a behind the back pass. Thompson makes no mistake from downtown! He's got 22, and the Warriors lead by 21.
Wiggins to the line and he hits two of two.
Brunson to the line and he hits one of two.
We are back in play from San Francisco. The Warriors are 24 minutes away from their 6th Finals in 8 years.
Draymond in take over mode as he takes Kleber to the bucket.
Thompson was feeling it in the first half, and went for the fast shoulder shimmy after this three ball. He's got 19 points through the first half.
Poole on the reverse after one of Green's 5 assists.
Luka is averaging over 33 points a game when facing elimination, but has struggled tonight. He's got just 6 through the first half
Looney had six quick points out of the gate for the Warriors as the lead crept up 9 in the first quarter
Thompson got going early and showed he is going to be a problem for the Mavs defenders tonight.
Spencer Dinwiddie is the top scorer for the Mavs with 17 off the bench. Luka Doncic is the next leading scorer with 6. The Mavs need their star as well as everyone around him to step up in this potential final half of the season.
Klay Thompson leads all scorers with 19 points on the night. Poole has 12, Green has 10, 3 and 5 assists while Curry has just 5 points and 7 assists.
We are headed to halftime in San Francisco! The Warriors stretched the lead to as many as 21 in that first half.
Dinwiddie with another three! He's keeping the Mavs in this game.
Curry to the line and he hits two of two.
Dinwiddie hits the step back three. He's got 14 points off the bench.
Green back to the bucket after the dish from Poole! He's got 10 on the night.
Thompson from downtown again! He's got 5 threes and 19 points on the night.
Finney-Smith on the floater after the offensive rebound extends the possession.
Poole going right at Doncic, getting the lay up and the foul. FT is good
Ntilikina in the corner for his second three of this quarter.
Green powering to the basket and he gets the lay up to go, absorbing the contact from Kleber. FT is good for the three point play.
Dinwiddie with the eurostep and the finish with the foul. He goes to the line and completes the three point play. He's got 11 on the night.
Moody drains the three ball and he has ignited here in the second quarter! Timeout Mavs with 3:59 to go in the second quarter. 9-0 run for the Warriors and Moody has 7 all in the last few minutes.
Moody to the line and he hits two fo two.
Bjelica down low from the Curry assist.
Moody with the clock running out gets the turn around to go.
Brunson to the line where he makes just one of two.
Ntilikinan with a wide open three in the corner. The Warriors were willing to give him that three, and he will take it all night long.
Poole to the line and he hits both.
Kleber hits the jumper out of the timeout. That was a big bucket out of the break, and a nice play call from coach Kidd.
Thompson laces a three ball and he's on fire! He's got 16, and 8 of those in the first 4:30 of this quarter. Timeout Mavs with 7:30 to go in the half.
Injury update: Curry is on the bench with his ankle wrapped in ice. It looks like his sneaker is still on.
Green to the line after a big collision with Finney-Smith at the line. Both FTs are good for Green
The scoring is really starting to ramp up here and that was Thompson dropping a triple in the corner.
Brunson hits the pull up from the mid range again. Is he going to start warming up for the Mavs in this second quarter?
Dinwiddie going to the rack strong and he's got 8 points off the bench.
Poole with a triple and that's 5 quick points for Poole out of the quarter change.
Brunson on the mid range jumper. He was quiet to start the game.
Poole starts the scoring in the second quarter with a reverse off a Green assist.
Doncic has 6 and Dinwiddie has 6 for the Mavs, while Wiggins and Thompson have 8 after a quarter.
Dinwiddie beats the buzzer for three! Nice end to the quarter for Dinwiddie who had the last 6 points for the Mavs. Golden State lead by 5 after 12 minutes from San Francisco.
Wiggins to the line and he hits two of two. He's got 8 in the first quarter.
Dinwiddie with a three ball to answer back! That's his first bucket off the bench.
Green in the corner for three and he hits all nets!
Wiggins with a contested drive to the rack. He breaks through the bodies and finishes with the finger roll.
Easy bucket for the Warriors who are getting penetration down low leading to easy dump offs like Poole's pass to Looney right there. Timeout Mavs with 2:39 to go in the first quarter.
Doncic down low and still showing patience even with three bodies around him. That one was finished calmly off the glass.
Kleber drops a triple! He had 13 last game and needs to be just as productive if not more tonight.
Curry's steal leads to a Thompson three ball in transition.
Offensive rebound leaves Wiggins with an easy lay up after a sweet pass from Curry. That ends a 7-0 Mavs run.
Doncic gets fouled, goes to the line and hits both. He is averaging 12.5 FTs a game in this series.
Bullock in the corner for three! That's their first three ball of the night. The Mavs will need a whole lot more of those to have a chance tonight.
Luka with a fade away off the glass, and he makes those tough shots look so routine.
Thompson off the dribble, this time from the elbow.
Steph Curry just tweaked his ankle guarding Luka Doncic. He got some attention during the break, and is back in the ball game.
Curry strings a three ball for the his first points of the night. We have a timeout early on here in the first quarter with the Warriors off to a quick start.
Powell gets the bucket and the foul! FT is good
Wiggins getting to the bucket on Doncic. He has enjoyed that match up this series.
Thompson getting his night started early. He has struggled in the first half in this series. Obviously the sooner he gets involved the better it is for the Warriors.
Looney with back to back bucket to start off. That's a sight the Warriors won't mind seeing, guys who aren't expected to score making plays early on.
Finney-Smith with a deep two! The Mavs need to hit those outside shots, but preferably those deep balls are worth three for Dallas.
Looney with the opening bucket of the game working his way down low.
We are underway from Chase Center!!! Warriors with a chance to close out the series tonight.
Tonight's Odds
According to Bet365.com the Warriors are a 6.5 point favorite with the Over/Under set at 215.5. The Warriors won't make the mistakes they made last game, and will be anxious to close this series tonight instead of heading back to Dallas for another game. Look for the Warriors to deliver the KO blow early in this game and cruise to victory while covering the spread.
Andrew Wiggins has been a stand out in this series. He has found a match up he likes with Luka defending him and made the Mavs pay in the first few games of the series. Look for him to be a big piece of the puzzle if the Warriors have success tonight.
The role players came up huge in Game 4, and will need to do so again tonight. Luka Doncic cannot do it all alone, and the first three games showed that.
The Splash Brothers have been in close out games before and know exactly how hard it is to knock a team out that is fighting for their lives. All business drip for Curry and Thompson coming into the Chase Center tonight.
You wouldn't now it by the pictures, but the Mavericks are facing elimination for a second straight game. They may seem casual because they know they have exceeded expectations and have nothing to lost coming into tonight's Game 5.
Mavs going up against history
Never in the history of the NBA has there been a team to comeback from an 0-3 deficit and win the series. There have only been three occasions where a team was able to tie up the series, but eventually lose in Game 7. The New York Knicks did it to the Rochester Royals in 1951, the Nuggets did it to the Jazz in the 1994 WC second round and most recently, the Portland Trail Blazers did it to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round back in 2003.
Dallas knows how hard it is to beat the Warriors at Chase Center. They have done it once this year, but will need another shooting performance like the one they had in Game 4 to keep the series alive and hand the Warriors their first home loss of the post season.
Warriors OK with Game 5?
The conspiracy theorist in me would lead you to believe that Steve Kerr and the Warriors weren't ready to end the series after four games. The Boston/Miami series looks like it may go the distance, or will at least be pushed to a Game 6 and Golden State would have had a lot of rest in between winning Game 4 of the WCF and Game 1 of the Finals. I'm not claiming that the Warriors lost on purpose, but there were some rotations that certainly made you think that Golden State maybe wasn't showing the same amount of desperation as the Mavericks were.
Odds stacks against the Mavs
The Warriors have yet to lose at home this postseason, and never in the history of the franchise have they dropped Games 4 and 5 after taking a 3-0 lead. History does not seem to favor the Dallas Mavericks tonight.
There will be a sea of yellow at the Chase Center tonight. The Warrior fans can smell the Finals and will be all hands on deck trying to push Golden State back to somewhere they haven't been since 2019.
Coach Kidd on Warriors zoning issues
Jason Kidd has spoken about Golden States’ plan to match up to their front court with a zone, and knows that can leave the perimeter open for the Mavs long range shooters. "They're going to play zone a majority of the game, so it's going to present a problem for them in terms of giving up 3s," he said. "They're winning the series, but we believe that if we continue to keep getting the shots that we've had, if we make them, it will put pressure on them."
Steph Curry expecting changes
The Golden State Splash Brother, Steph Curry, talked about Game 4’s flat performance and said that the Warriors need to come out having made tweaks to the game plan from Tuesday. "Playoffs are fun. It's a game of adjustments," he said. "You've got to figure it out ... if you can't do it on the fly, then you have a game like (Tuesday). The next 48 hours, you get prepared and come out with another level of focus on what they did."
The Splash Brothers have been in close out games before and know exactly how hard it is to knock a team out that is fighting for their lives. All business drip for Curry and Thompson coming into the Chase Center tonight.
You wouldn't now it by the pictures, but the Mavericks are facing elimination for a second straight game. They may seem casual because they know they have exceeded expectations and have nothing to lost coming into tonight's Game 5.
Game 4 recap
The Mavericks three point shooting finally came to life last game in Dallas, and Luka Doncic finally got some support from his role players in a game where the Mavs needed it most. Dallas jumped out early with some hot shooting to start the game and didn’t look back. The lead stretched to as much as 29, as Doncic scored 30 and Dorian Finney-Smith chipped in 23. The Mavs shot 20-43 (46.5%) last game and will be hoping to have the same hot hand tonight.
We are live from Chase Center
Hello everyone and welcome to San Francisco where the Warriors are looking to close out the Western Conference Finals tonight. Dallas have their backs against the wall yet again, and are facing a challenge that no team has overcome in the history of the NBA.
Mavs vs. Warriors Game 5
The Dallas Mavericks face elimination for a second straight game tonight from San Francisco while the Golden State Warriors have a chance to get back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019. AS English will be with you all night long providing live coverage, stats, scores and highlights of Game 5 from Chase Center.