The Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks are two teams looking to climb up the Western Conference standings to solidify their spot in the playoffs. Things are tense in the Western Conference, and every remaining game is important. Will the Warriors continue to climb the standings? Or will Luka Doncic and the Mavs make a breakthrough and aim for the No. 6 seed?
The two teams are scheduled to face off in a key regular season game.
The Warriors and Mavericks will meet for the second time this season, and it's a matchup that could potentially change the standings. The last time these teams met, the Mavs won by a score of 132-122. The Warriors need to be more aggressive, attack the paint and try to get to the foul line.
Last game, the Warriors made just 13 attempts from the charity stripe. Stephen Curry, who had 25 points and seven assists and made six threes in the loss, is not expected to play as he is recovering from an ankle injury. Klay Thompson assumed the sixth-man role and was coming off the bench, but with Curry out, he will likely be moved back into the starting lineup.
The Mavs are one of the few teams to keep Thompson in check. In his last 10 games with the Mavs, Thompson is averaging just 14 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Thompson has to use a scorer's mentality, but we all know he has a killer's instincts. Thompson will need to be firing on all cylinders if the Warriors have any chance of winning this game.
The Warriors are looking for their second straight win after defeating the Spurs and are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Hopefully the return of a healthy Chris Paul can make up for Curry's absence. He had 19 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the win over the Spurs, and was as effective as ever offensively.
That's why the Warriors signed Paul, to have another experienced rotation guard in case Curry or Thompson had to sit out. The Warriors appear to be getting a good return on their investment so far.
Luka Doncic and the Mavs are also looking to move up the standings, as they currently sit in eighth place. The MVP candidate thrilled his team with 39 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists in the last game against the Warriors. Kyrie Irving didn't play the last time these teams met, so he could be a problem if he can get into the lane.
The Mavs attempted 22 free throws in their last meeting, and if Irving can break through and get to the foul line, it could be the difference in a close game in the fourth quarter. Irving has made zero free throw attempts over the past two games, but that is expected to change as he ranks in the top 10 among guards in points per game in the paint.
This is an important game for the Mavs as they look to avoid the play-in tournament as they are only one game away from finishing in the top six in the West Division. The Mavs have to take on the Warriors. The Dubs own a 16-13 road record and will be looking to even the season series when they enter American Airlines Center.
The Mavs are on a three-game winning streak, and Doncic will be looking to continue his triple-double streak, as his streak has reached seven games. Doncic appears to have closed the gap in the MVP race after playing well in recent games. Doncic is having a season similar to Russell Westbrook's MVP campaign when the team was a No. 6 seed, where he also averaged a triple-double.
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