By the early stages of the third quarter, things did not look good for the Dallas Mavericks in San Francisco, California on Sunday night. Three minutes and 35 seconds into the second half, the Warriors had what seemed to be a commanding 73-52 lead on the Mavericks.
However, Dallas marched back, outscored Golden State 55-28 the rest of the way, en route to a 107-101 victory. Golden State even had a commanding 93-74 lead with 10 minutes left, before their offensive went completely cold, and were outscored 33-8 in the process. Dallas just continued to plug away at the Golden State lead, and by the time three minutes and 21 seconds were left, Dallas was in fact in front by a score of 95-94.
What was most stunning from the game is the fact that the Mavericks limited the Warriors to only 13 fourth quarter points. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd made reference to Luka Doncic’s near-unique “triple-double” in his post game press conference. Doncic in fact had a game-high 34 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, but also a game-high nine turnovers. It has been quite the month for Doncic. On February 10, he had a career-high 51 points in a 112-105 Dallas win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The bottom line is you would not expect a game like this from the Warriors on Sunday. We all know how potent the Warriors offense can be, especially from three-point range. But what might be overlooked is the fact that Dallas has an excellent defense. Their 103.4 points against is the second fewest points allowed in the entire NBA. The only team that has given up less are the surprising Cleveland Cavaliers at 102.7 points per game. With the win, Dallas improves to a record of 36 wins and 25 losses, while Golden State falls to a record of 43 wins and 18 losses.
