Steve Kerr and the Warriors made history with their win against the Mavs
If there is one thing the Warriors know how to do, it’s overturn a deficit to win. Just ask the Dallas Mavericks.
Not only did the Warriors and their coach take control of the series, but they made some history while doing so.
Steve Kerr’s Warriors era one for the ages
On Friday night the Golden State Warriors took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals courtesy of a 126-117 win in Game 2 of the series. With just two wins standing between them and a return to the NBA finals for the first time since 2019, the Warriors are on the verge of making it an incredible six trips to the finals in the last eight seasons. Yet there was also history made on the night for Steve Kerr and his charges. Having had to work their way back from a 19 point deficit in the first half, the Warriors completed the third largest playoff comeback in their history. The other two were a 20 point overturn against the Pelicans in 2015 and a 25 point return against the Spurs in 2017.
As for the coach Kerr, believe it or not this was the 12th time that the Warriors have come back to win a playoff game where they were trailing by at least 15 points since he took over the team back in the 2014-15 season. In case you’re wondering how that measures up, there is no other team that has as many comeback wins as the Warriors across the last 25 seasons in the NBA.
How did the Warriors do it?
In a game that they needed to win, it was clear from the first whistle that the Mavericks were intent on doing just that. In less than six minutes they had a double-digit lead and showed no signs of slowing down. Quite frankly the Mavs dominated the first half with an incredible 15 of 27 shooting from distance. It would have taken a brave person to bet against them winning at that point and in turn leveling the series. Yet Warriors coach Steve Kerr clearly hadn’t read the script.
“I told them if we developed some poise in the second half the game would come to us,” Kerr said. “I thought we were so scattered in the first half, maybe emotionally more so than anything. Dallas came out and just punched us...I thought Dallas was fantastic. They played harder, they executed better. We were scattered. We just needed to get poised and get the game under control. We felt confident if we did that they wouldn’t make 15 3s in the second half.” Of course that’s exactly how things went from there on. The Warriors were nothing short of sensational in the second half with only three turnovers and 61% shooting from the field. That’s before mentioning the fact that they helf the Mavericks to just six three pointers. In the end Kerr was spot on and now they head to Game 3 with a 2-0 lead.