Dallas defeated Golden State for the second time this week and the 11th in succession. It has not lost to Golden State since April 10, 1999 and has won five in a row here.
"They had a great game the other night at our place and looked great," said Nowitzki, referring to Tuesday's 116-106 victory over Golden State. "They made shots and were rebounding. We really had a tough time there and at the end, we found a way to stop them a little bit and make some shots and win the game but it really was a close game the other night and tonight we were able to play a little bit better."
 Steve Nash drives to the hoop against the Warriors. Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images |
The Warriors were undone by horrendous shooting from leading scorer Antawn Jamison, who failed to score a point. Jamison, who averages 17.7 points per game, went 0-for-11 from the field and did not go to the free-throw line. He was taken out with 3:01 left in the third quarter and did not return.
"I mean out of 11 shots (I took), I had about two or three bad shots," said Jamison, who had a season-high 32 points against the Mavericks on Tuesday. "The rest of them, bread and butter, layups and open jumpers. It was one of those nights as soon as it left your hand you could just feel it. I'm not worried at all. It's something you got to learn from and just keep it in the suitcase and hope it doesn't happen again."
The team and NBA record for most shots without a basket in 17 by Hardaway at Minnesota on December 27, 1991.
Jamison has good company in futility this season. Michael Jordan missed his first 14 shots in Washington's 100-91 loss to Seattle on November 11 and finished 5-of-26.
"Sometimes you have a night like that," said Warriors guard Larry Hughes, who scored 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting. "(Jamison) is just going to come back stronger and figure out what happened. Make changes, if it's getting in different spots. But I'm sure he is going to come back strong."
Forward Adrian Griffin had the task of guarding Jamison.
"I don't know if I did anything special against him," he said. "He had a few good looks. My teammates covered my back. I tried to overplay him. One of our main focuses coming into the game was trying to contain him."
Danny Fortson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Erick Dampier scored 12 points and Chris Mills came off the bench to contribute 11 for Golden State, which has lost three straight games for the first time this season.
Dallas closed the first half with a 10-1 run to go into the locker room with a 48-40 advantage.
The Mavericks continued their onslaught in the second half as Nowitzki's three-point play with 7:27 capped a 13-5 surge that opened the third quarter and gave them a 61-45 lead.
"We picked up our defense and had some fast-break buckets," Nash said. "We made some shots and picked them apart offensively so we played well at both ends of the floor for a period of time and it's a key again where when we play defense, we have a great chance of making a run on a team."
Golden State was outscored 39-18 in the third period. Fortson scored 10 points in the quarter but the Mavericks shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field.
Warriors forward Adonal Foyle was 1-of-8 from the free-throw line and the recipient of intentional fouling from the Mavs.
"I think it was about a two-, three-point game and we couldn't stop them," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "So we thought that would be a way to get some possessions back. We knew he was shooting like 17 percent from the free-throw line. It worked, but it wasn't a major part of the game."
"Missing those free throws take a lot of air out of you," Foyle said. "It's free points and we could have been winning the game at halftime if we'd knocked down three-quarters of those. That right there mentally destroyed us at halftime. But still, that's no excuse for not finishing up in the third quarter."
The Warriors shot just 40 percent (33-of-83), including an 0-for-6 effort from 3-point range. They were a season-low 42 percent (16-for-38) from the line.
"If (Foyle) can't make a free throw, then we are going to foul him, so we can have a chance to come back and get up by even more," Nowitzki said. "In this league, you have to be able to make your free throws. It wasn't only him missing free throws, their entire team missed a lot of free throws combined. If they would have been able to make their free throws, they could have been up at the half. That was an important part of us going into halftime with the lead."
All 12 Dallas players scored at least four points as the Mavs shot 50 percent (45-of-90) and made 15-of-19 foul shots.
"It was great. That's what we wanted," Nowitzki said. "Get a lot of rest and get everyone some playing time and that's what we did today and we know we've got a tough one tomorrow (against Sacramento)."