ThuGolden State Warriors are still up 3-1 in the series vs the Dallas Mavericks. However, their defense in the potential closeout Gm4 was horrendous. The Dubs allowed 119 points as the Mavericks saw their shooting numbers improving Tuesday night.
The Mavericks were absolutely scalding from beyond the arc, shooting 20-of-43 from three a massive 46 percent from deep and 50 percent from the field. The Warriors defense wasn’t there for them in a tough matchup.
Dallas hammered the Warriors in the third quarter, outscoring them 37-23. Usually the third quarter was the best for Steve Kerr’s team as Golden State thrives playing with urgency at the start of the second half.
That was not the case Tuesday night. In the last three third-quarters played vs Dallas, the Dubs were a plus-132 on net rating. They were a minus-60.9 Tuesday night shooting just 40.5 percent from the field.
The game was such a blowout late in the third quarter that Steve Kerr pulled all of his starters, and none returned until late in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors cut a 29-point deficit down to eight with 3:29 remaining.
“Tonight, you’re playing, it was almost like an ego win. You come out and you really have nothing to lose, so that confidence started early. We didn’t really do nothing to slow it down,” Stephen Curry said after the game.
The Warriors weren’t urgent enough in the defensive end, according to Steve Kerr. The Mavs were allowed many open corner threes during Gm 4 putting the game out-of-reach early as the Mavericks add another blowout win in the playoff record this postseason.
“We weren’t alert tonight defensively. We weren’t sharp. And I thought we let them kind of get into a groove, and once a team like that gets into a three-point groove, it’s tough to get them out of it,” Kerr said in the post-game presser.
The Warriors have lost three potential closeout games away from home this postseason. They will have the chance to clinch their place in the NBA Finals on Thursday night in San Francisco.
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