The Warriors extended their winning streak to five games after defeating the visiting Dallas Mavericks 127-107 on Wednesday night.
The Warriors extended their winning streak to five games after defeating the visiting Dallas Mavericks 127-107 on Wednesday night. Klay Thompson led all scorers with a season-high 45 points. Stephen Curry added 14 points and nine assists, while Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green both scored in double figures. With the victory, the Warriors improve to 42-4 on the season and match the second-longest home winning streak in NBA history.
GAME LEADERS
On a night in which Stephen Curry didn’t have his typical hot hand, Klay Thompson carried the scoring burden for Golden State, and the Warriors’ star shooting guard got off to a great start. After Harrison Barnes opened the game with a three-pointer, Thompson would score 12 of the Warriors’ next 15 points to pace Golden State to an early 18-6 lead with 7:11 left in the first quarter. But, after Barnes added another jumper, Dallas immediately responded with a 9-0 run to pull within five points. Leandro Barbosa and Marreese Speights would combine to score all but two of the Warriors’ remaining points in the quarter, as Speights’ jumper with 8.1 seconds left closed the scoring in the frame and gave Golden State a 32-22 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Warriors managed to convert only four field goals in the first half of the second quarter, as an alley-oop from Raymond Felton to Dwight Powell brought the Mavericks within 40-34 with 6:02 left in the half. Curry would score the next basket of the game, but then Thompson took over once again. He’d score all 14 of the Warriors’ remaining points in the half, the last two of which put Golden State up ten with less than 30 seconds remaining. An alley-oop from Felton to Javale McGee would close out the scoring in the half and send the game into halftime with the Warriors holding a 56-48 advantage.
Curry didn’t make a single three-pointer in the first half, but he changed that in a hurry, converting three treys within the opening six minutes of the third quarter to put the Dubs up 71-64 with 6:47 remaining in the frame. Then, after Chandler Parsons’ three-pointer brought the Mavericks within 73-70, Draymond Green put his stamp on the quarter. After not taking a single shot through the opening 31 minutes of the game, Green scored 10 points in a span of two-and-a-half minutes to rebuild Golden State’s lead to double digits. Brandon Rush’s three-pointer with 34.3 seconds left proved to be the final points in the frame, sending the game into the fourth and final quarter with the Warriors leading 95-77.
Wesley Matthews’ three-pointer cut the deficit to 105-93 with 5:32 remaining in the contest, but that was as close as Dallas would get for the rest of the game. After the Warriors responded with a 6-2 burst, Klay Thompson would score the next eight points for Golden State, the last two of which gave him 45 points on the evening, notching a new season-high. Thompson and the other Warriors’ starters were pulled from the game immediately after, as the Dubs’ bench finished off the game. Kevon Looney, making his NBA debut, converted a jump shot for the first two points of his career to put the Warriors up 121-99 with 2:16 left to play. Jason Thompson then scored the final six points of the game for Golden State, as the Warriors coasted to a 127-107 victory. With the win, the Warriors improve to 42-4 on the season, and become just the third team in NBA history to win 40-straight home games. Next up, the Warriors will head out on the road for a set of back-to-back games over the weekend, beginning with a matchup in Philadelphia with the 76ers on Saturday.