Mavs 87 vs 112 Warriors summary: stats and highlights | Western Conference Finals
The Golden State Warriors started off the Western Conference Finals with a convincing win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 on Wednesday night. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 21 points in the 112-87 win.
Golden State do it with defense to start game
The Warriors were able to shut down Luka Doncic and the Mavericks in the first half as Andrew Wiggins set the tone in the first half scoring 15 of his 19 points before the break.
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t have the best start to the series, Curry even missed three free throws including back-to-back freebies in the first quarter while Thompson went scoreless in the opening half.
Golden State led from start to finish, and stretched the lead out to double digits at the end of the first quarter by keeping the Mavs to just over 30% shooting from the field.
GS with KO punch to start third
Luka Doncic and the Mavs made a run in the second quarter to close that gap to three, but the Warriors bounced right back with an 11-2 run of their own to stretch the back to double digits. Doncic may have gone to the half with 18 points, but he went 17 minutes without a field goal which threw the Mavs completely out of synch.
The knock out blow was delivered in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Klay Thompson came to life after the break, and led a 10-2 run to stretch the lead out to 17 out of the gate in the second half.
We saw it in the Boston-Miami game last night and we saw it in the Dallas-Golden State game tonight. Dallas, like Boston went to a seventh game and once the second half came it seemed like they just ran out of steam.
Thompson comes to life after scoreless first half
With the lead extended to well over 20 points half way through the fourth quarter both coaches pulled their starters. All five Golden State starters scored double digits.
Thompson ended the night with 15, all in the second half, while Curry lead the Warriors with 21. Meanwhile Doncic scored just two points in the second half to end the night with 20.
The Mavericks will look to bounce back on Friday night as the Warriors eye a 2-0 lead heading to Dallas. Tip off from the Chase Center is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Draymond going coast to coast with the strong drive and the soft finish.
The headline of Steph's night was his three missed FTs in the first quarter, but he ended the night as the leading scorer with 21.
Jordan Poole finished with 19 points and continues to be huge off the bench for the Warriors.
All five Warriors' starters including Green had double digits in Game 1.
Golden State kept the Mavs to just over 30% from the field in the first half.
Wiggins set the tone for the Warriors in the first half with 15 points.
It's all over from San Fran! The Warriors take Game 1 at home in convincing fashion.
Lee drops the three ball.
Moody hits the three from straight on.
Burke on the finger roll
Brown goes up and under. Under two to go in a game that has been over for a while.
Brown on the lay up.
Burke with a pull up and he gets the foul. FT is good.
Green cutting to the basket and gets the easy slam. This game has been over for a while now, let's see how long the starters stay in.
Finney-Smith on the nasty put back slam
Porter in the corner and he drops the long two.
Green off the bench and gets the drive to go.
Bullock with the three ball from straight on.
Thompson on the fader from the FT line. He is scorching hot since the second half started.
Poole again and the Warriors are on an 8-0 run to start the fouth quarter. Timeout Mavs with 10 minutes to go in the final quarter.
Poole gets the finger roll to drop. That's 17 for him tonight.
It might be time for the Mavs, and the Warriors for that matter, to start thinking about taking their starters out.
Thompson continues his hot second half. He's got 13, all after halftime.
Poole starts off the fourth like he ended the third! He drops the short bucket and he's got 15 points.
Poole with the buzzer beater and from a step inside the line and that will take us to the final quarter with the Warriors up by 19.
Dinwiddie spots up from three point range!
Dinwiddie at the line and he hits one of two.
Poole high off the glass with the floater.
Dinwiddie drops the three and he's got 13.
Curry gets the off balanced floater to drop after the foul!!! He goes to the line and hits the and one. Chants of MVP ring around the Chase Center.
Porter slashing down the lane, and the Warriors passing has been specatacular all night long.
Dinwiddie on the floater on the baseline, and gets the foul. FT is good.
Porter with the lay up off of another turnover from the Mavs.
Thompson this time to Looney, returning the favor. Looney with the easy slam.
Brunson gets a tough shot to go. That's the difference. Dallas is working for all their shots while GS is creating easy looks.
Looney to Thompson on the lay up
Kleber from straight on and he drops the three for his first bucket of the game.
Thompson again! He's 4/4 in the third
Brunson gets the floater to go. The Warriors still lead by 17, but coach Kerr wants a timeout midway through the third quarter.
Thompson gets the three ball to go, and he's got 7 in the quarter.
Brunson on the pull up from mid range.
Wiggins off the inbound and Luka is struggling to keep him contained.
Powell at the line and he hits one of two.
Thompson on the lay up off the feed from Looney.
Doncic gets the slam after the turnover
10-2 run for the Warriors to start the second half.
Curry for three and the Warriors have pulled away from the Mvas in the first part of this third quarter.
Thompson finally gets his first bucket to drop after two scoreless quarters.
Curry with a three ball to get this crowd going in the third quarter.
Wiggins keeps up the hot shooting with a mid range jumper.
Powell with the alley oop to start the scoring in the second half.
we are back in action from Chase Center! Two more quarter to determine a winner in the series opener.
Green has been doing it on both side of the ball. He's got 6 points and 6 rebounds.
Luka has 18 points at the break, but needs some help from the supporting cast.
It's been a mix of GS defense and Dallas missing shots, but the Mavs have just 45 points going into the second half.
Wiggins came out and made a statement in that first quarter, with 10 points.
Wiggins has 15 points, while Curry goes into the half with 12 points. It's been a much lower scoring game than expected in the first half of Game 1.
Luka Doncic leads all scorers with 18 points despite going over 17 minutes without a FG in that first half. Bullock has 9, but the Mavs are shooting just 31.8% from the field.
Curry misses the half court shot and that's how the first half will end. The Warriors have been in control all night long, after a rough start from the field from the Mavs.
Doncic at the line, and he hits just one of two.
Brunson at the line, he hits one of two. There have been 9 missed FTs in 23 attempts between the two teams.
Curry answers Doncic with a three ball of his own.
Doncic with back-to-back three balls!!!
Curry getting to the rim and finishing around the iron.
Doncic with a three ball out of the timeout! That's his first FG in over 17 minutes.
Wiggins for three!!!! He has been the man for the Warriors in the first half of Game 1! GS on an 11-2 run and the Mavs will take a timeout with 2:24 to go in the half.
Poole sinks the three off the Curry penetration.
Green just picked up his third foul and sends Doncic to the line. Both FTs good, but Luka has been clutching his shoulder over the last few minutes. We'll keep an eye on what is going on with Doncic's and the status of his shoulder.
Dinwiddie just got T'd up after Thompson blocked his shot. Curry hits the FT and then dashes to the rack with a lay up on the next possesion.
Wiggins backing down in the post, and gets the floater to go.
Doncic at the line after the Green foul. One of two FTs drop
Bullock hits a FT after a defensive three second call.
Green absorbing contact down low, gets the bucket to go and the foul! FT is good and that was Kleber's third foul.
Bullock strings the three ball off the feed from Doncic, and we have a two point game. 11-1 run of the Mavs.
Brunson to the line after the Poole foul. He hits one of two, and has 7 points on the night.
Dinwiddie in the corner after some fantastic ball movement aroud the perimiter.
Green to the line and he hits one of two.
Back to back lay ups from Bullock and Brunson force the Warriors to take a timeout with 8:00 minutes to go in the second.
Looney is red hot! He gets the long two to drop and he's 4/4 to start the night.
Poole back to the rack with the finish
Dinwiddie to the line and he hits two of two.
Brunson on the pull up. He's Luka's right hand man, and he needs to be involved all game long. Dallas can't afford him going on lengthy quiet spells.
Porter gets the Warriors going to start the second quarter with a step back jumper
The first quarter has come to an end and the Warriros jump out to a double digit lead thanks to 10 points from Wiggins, and 6 points and 4 rebounds from Looney.
Doncic has 8 points and four rebounds, but the Mavs are shooting just 26.9 % from the field.
Curry fouled on the three by Bertans. He misses another FT, making it three in the first quarter. This may be the first time in his career he has missed three FTs in the first fquarter.
Poole with a loveley move around the basket
Wiggins is in double digits already and he is attacking Doncic whenever the Slovenian is on him.
Dinwiddie spinning in the lane and hitting the floater for his first points off the bench.
Wiggins from the elbow, that's the third straight shot from that spot for GS. He's already got 8 points.
Porter off the dribble using the glass from the mid range
Bullock with the three ball!!
Poole shaking and baking, creating space and knocking down the elbow jumper.
Thompson with another assist, this time to Looney with the slam. He's got 6 points and 3 rebounds already. Timeout from Chase Center mid way through the first quarter.
Wiggins on the spot up from long range.
Doncic shakes off Wiggins and hits the step back three
Luka going strong to the rack with a signiature drive, gets it to drop and gets the foul. FT is good.
Curry just missed two FTs, but made up for it with a jumper from the FT line. Don't see him miss many, and almost never see him miss two in a row.
Looney drops the mid range jumper
Thompson opening up some space down low for Draymond Green and there is fantastic pace to start this game. Expect fireworks tonight and all series.
Doncic on the board for the first time in the series with a driving lay up towards the bucket.
Finney-Smith in the corner for three, and he showed in the preious series how dangerous he can be from outside.
Looney gets the wide open slam
Brunson taking a page out of Luka's book with a step back from the mid range.
Wiggins gets the party going with a deep ball
We are underway in the Western Conference Finals!!!
Kerr back on bench for GS
Steve Kerr missed the final three games of the series against Memphis after testing positive for COVID. He will make his comeback on the sidelines in Game 1 tonight. He had nothing but praise for how the teams carried on in his absence. "I thought our team and our staff did a really good job over the course of Games 4, 5 and 6 (against Memphis) of making that adjustment to the way the series had shifted and kind of finding a way to get through."
With the rest of the trio back, Curry hasn't had to carry as much of the load for the Warriors, but he is still getting 26.9 points and 5.6 assists a night
Luka Doncic has been sensational all season long, but has saved the best for last. He is averaging a whopping 31.5 pionts, 10 rebounds and 6.6 assists this post season.
Kerr on Luka
Steve Kerr has faced his fair share of super stars in his time as the Warriors coach, and knows trying to contain Luka Doncic in this series is not going to be an easy task. “He's a really unique player and clearly one of the very best players in the league. I think the ability to shoot the step-back 3 and also get to the rim and pass the ball so well makes him a really difficult cover,” Kerr said.
Doncic just happy to be here
Mavs star Luka Doncic was honest with reporters before the series opener, stating he didn't quite expect to be four games away from the Finals, but he's not complaining. “Honestly, I never expected to be here. I’m living my best life. This is a dream,” Doncic said Tuesday. “Before Game 7, I was thinking this might be my last game of the NBA season. But I wasn’t ready. I wanted to play basketball. Tomorrow, another basketball game that I will enjoy.”
They met again, 25 years later
These two teams last met in the post season a quarter century ago. Golden State fans will remember it well, and Dallas fans will have a hard time forgetting the first round series in which the Mavs were shocked by the Warriors. MVP Dirk Nowitzki and Dallas were the one seed in the West and favorites to win the title that year, but came up against a red hot Warriors team who shot the lights out and took down Dalls in six games in what would become known as the “We Believe” series.
All eyes on these two tonight. A two time MVP is going up against one of the faces of the new generation in the NBA. Get your poporn ready, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Golden State coming into the Chase Center showing off that San Fran swag. Klay and Draymond with some Conference Finals drip to get the series rolling.
How they got here: Dallas
The Mavericks used a fantastic second half of the season to finish fourth in the West after Luka Doncic returned to his MVP candidate form after the All-Star Break. Some mid season acquisitions propelled this team, and Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Dallas finished fourth in the West and had a match up with Utah in the first round. Dallas took down the Jazz in six games and then matched up against the top seeded Phoenix Suns. That series went the distance, but Luka Doncic and company pulled through in a memorable road win to make it to their first Conference Finals since the days of Dirk Nowitzki.
How they got here: Warriors
It has been winding road, filled with obstacles, injuries and come back stories for Golden State. The Warriors finished third in the West after a tumultuous season that saw their big three of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green finally reunited after two years apart. Thompson returned from back-to-back devastating injuries after the New Year, but injuries to Curry and Green meant the Warriors would have to wait to get their trio consistently back to the floor together again. Once the playoffs arrived Steve Kerr’s men were given a clean bill of health and tore through the Nuggets in five games and the Grizzlies in six.
We are live from San Fran
Hello everyone and welcome to the Chase Center where the Golden State Warriors get the chance to open the series under their home roof as the three seed in the Western Conference after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. The Mavericks were taken all the way to a Game 7 against the top seeded Phoenix Suns and pulled out the away win thanks to some heroics from their super star, Luka Doncic.
Mavs vs. Warriors
The second of two Conference Finals tips off from San Francisco tonight as the Golden State Warriors host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 from the Chase Center. AS English will be with you every step of the way providing live stats, scores, analysis and highlights of tonight series opener.
How they got here: Warriors
It has been winding road, filled with obstacles, injuries and come back stories for Golden State. The Warriors finished third in the West after a tumultuous season that saw their big three of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green finally reunited after two years apart. Thompson returned from back-to-back devastating injuries after the New Year, but injuries to Curry and Green meant the Warriors would have to wait to get their trio consistently back to the floor together again. Once the playoffs arrived Steve Kerr’s men were given a clean bill of health and tore through the Nuggets in five games and the Grizzlies in six.
We are live from San Fran
Hello everyone and welcome to the Chase Center where the Golden State Warriors get the chance to open the series under their home roof as the three seed in the Western Conference after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. The Mavericks were taken all the way to a Game 7 against the top seeded Phoenix Suns and pulled out the away win thanks to some heroics from their super star, Luka Doncic.
Mavericks vs. Warriors
The second of two Conference Finals tips off from San Francisco tonight as the Golden State Warriors host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 from the Chase Center. AS English will be with you every step of the way providing live stats, scores, analysis and highlights of tonight series opener.