Dallas Mavericks were able to lead for most of the game against the Warriors, but, they could not finish as paint problems made their appearance again in the second half. The Mavs did not shoot the ball well in the third quarter, but that was not the only reason for their collapse.
Dallas was out-rebounded again 43-30 in Gm 2 offering the chance to the Warriors’ team to attack an unbalanced defense. The Dubs finished with 62 points in the paint as the Mavs had only 30 in 48 minutes of play.
“They attacked the paint,” coach Jason Kidd told reporters. “We’ve got to protect the rim. That’s one of the things we have to do better.”
Luka Doncic and the Mavericks led most of the way before the Warriors took their first lead of the night on Otto Porter Jr.’s 3-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth. Doncic finsihed with 42 points, but that was not enough for the visiting team.
“They got two of the best 3-point shooters in the world and they still attacked the paint,” Luka Doncic said. “Bad defense. That’s it.”
Curry had 32 points and delivered the finishing blow to the Mavericks in the last three minutes. He and Poole combined for 22 of the Warriors’ 45 points in the fourth quarter. The Warriors outscored the Mavs 45-68 in the third and fourth quarter.
“They were playing Warrior basketball. They were making us move. They had a great run in the third quarter – great third-quarter team. They made a run, and we just let the run go on too long,” Jalen Brunson, who scored 31 points for the Mavs, said.
The Warriors outscored Dallas 25-13 in the third quarter. The Mavericks shot 2-of-13 from 3-point range in the third quarter as the Warriors finished with 61 percent shooting from the field in the second half.
“It’s the Warriors, they have a great team” Doncic said on Mavs dropping an 19-point lead. “They are a championship team, so like I said, we got to adjust our defense. It’s really hard to stop them. It’s a tough situation being up 19 and losing the game, but we have to move on”.
The Mavericks will try to shake off Game 2 blow on Sunday in Game 3 at American Airlines Center. This is the second time in the row to go down 2-0 in these playoffs.
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