Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavs end five-game road trip with loss to Golden State Warriors

“We're a good team, in every sense of the word.'' “I'm serious,'' Doncic said, “I think we're a great team because our defense has come a long way and our offense is good.''

Kyrie Irving had an outstanding performance with 27 points, 3 steals, and 2 assists. PJ Washington became the third Mavs player to reach the 20-point mark, scoring 20 points and chipping in five boards, three steals and one block. Daniel Gafford added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists on the night.

Stephen Curry was held to 13 points on 5-18 shooting from the floor, but added seven rebounds and seven assists. Dallas was focused on attacking Curry aggressively. It was a tough night of shooting for the entire “Splash Brothers” considering Klay Thompson had 14 points, 5-14 shooting from the floor and 2-8 shooting from beyond the hoop. Golden State still found a way to win.

“Steph and Klay didn't play particularly well tonight offensively, but a lot of the other guys stepped up,” Irving said. “I think that was the story of tonight's game. Their other players got going, made some timely shots, made some timely stops.”

Draymond Green was a frequent relief option for Curry, posting 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. However, Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with 23 points. Chris Paul contributed several points for the Warriors, totaling 14 points and five assists off the bench. Moses Moody added 14 points. While his box score stats didn't jump off the page – Trayce Jackson-Davis grabbed 10 boards and scored 4 points – what stood out most was that Green's defensive It was his ability to play five boards while maximizing his versatility.

“He could make up from a short roll, and he perfected it,” Kidd said of Green. “He found a way to score, he found a way to find and find players. So whenever you put those two on the ball with Steph, when Draymond is involved in that pick-and-roll, it's We can’t. We need to be a little better.”

“We'll play them here right away this weekend and we'll see what we can do to be tougher on him,” Kidd continued. “He’s seen every defense, Steph has seen every defense, so we have to try to keep them off balance.”

Using hot perimeter shooting, the Mavs jumped out to a 9-0 lead at the start of the game, but the Warriors quickly came back and held a 28-27 advantage at the end of the period. With the Warriors playing small, the Mavs frequently played Doncic as one of the big players in the Horns set or simply allowed him to play with the ball in the middle of the floor. He took advantage of the space he had and attacked.

Late in the first half, the Mavs forced Doncic to initiate double-team draws frequently, creating opportunities for the offense to play advantageous basketball. With Doncic out in the cold, Dallas couldn't capitalize, but Irving got to the rim with a smooth finger roll, benching Curry and giving Dallas a 27-23 lead. .

Despite Doncic returning to the game shortly after, the Mavs continued to have poor performances on both sides of the ball. The Warriors were leading 37-34 when Doncic checked in and piled on. Golden State increased its defensive pressure on the Slovenian superstar, blitzing him frequently during pick-and-rolls. One sequence included a turnover on the sideline that led to a breakaway dunk by Gary Payton II that gave the Warriors a five-point lead. Curry made two 3-pointers, pushing Golden State up to 11 points.

Doncic often drew two defenders on his drives, and the Warriors often sent in Roman early to leave their weaker perimeter shooters open. Coupled with Doncic's inability to score from beyond the arc in the first half, it was a difficult combination for Dallas to overcome. The Mavs began to utilize more game action between Doncic and Irving, settling into short roles after the first half.

After the Warriors went up 47-34, all the momentum seemed to be in their favor. Dallas improved its perimeter shooting and took advantage of Warriors turnovers to end the first half on an impressive 13-0 run. The game was tied 49-49 at halftime.

After halftime, Doncic started making more plays off the post and was soon connected to Irving's catch-and-shoot for a 3-pointer. Doncic followed up the make with a step back from beyond the arc replayed from a re-screen. Dallas led 55-49, scoring 19 unanswered points until the Warriors managed to end a dry spell.

“Before, we could have easily had a bigger lead at halftime, we could have been up by 20 points, but it's a tie,” Kidd said. “I just thought we didn't play well. We had some great moments offensively, but I think it was just the character of this group. If you look at this road trip, we were down, but we weren't down. “I wasn't.” He played well. We are together and understand that there is a first half to the game.”

Doncic returned to attack from high pick-and-rolls, but the Warriors remained focused on preventing driving lanes from opening up for finishes. He used his short-range game to successfully step back on jumpers. Irving attacked the gap from a wide pindown and also made a pull-up from short range.

Dallas often had no impact on the Warriors' jump shots through much of the third quarter, whether it was catch-and-shoots from spot-ups or jumpers created from off-ball actions. The Mavs' game plan was to leave their weaker shooters open if needed to stuff the paint, and they had to pay for the stretch. Andrew Wiggins' spotlight tied the game at 61-61.

Doncic heated up from beyond the arc midway through the third period, showing a catch-and-shoot look following a step-back jumper against contact. However, these plays did not lead to any points for Dallas, but Hardaway's 3-pointer gave the team a 74-71 lead. Golden State took over from there. The Warriors, led by Paul, scored nine unanswered points to close out the frame, resulting in an 80-74 lead to begin the fourth quarter.

“We never give up. I think we had three great looks, PJ had a catch-and-shoot, Kai had a catch-and-shoot, and I had a catch-and-shoot, an open catch-and-shoot three times,” Doncic said. said. I think it was a great prospect to move up, but I didn't make it. ”

Trailing by 11 points early in the final frame after Wiggins hit a floater, the Mavs faced a tough situation to overcome. Irving and one pull-up jumper sparked a quick 5-0 run, and Washington scored on a short roll attack out of a timeout to pull Dallas within six points with more than half left in the fourth quarter. .

“I never felt like we were eliminated in any game, especially with our offense being so strong,” Irving said. “We had a lot of great looks in the fourth quarter, but we had to hit it tonight. So we're looking forward to playing them again in the next two games and seeing where they play at that time.”

Gafford hit a pass out to Irving, who countered a defender's top lock before the handoff, and the Mavs used a layup to get within four points. Gafford made a series of dirty work plays, including a putback after Irving's missed layup and a catch-and-finish completion after receiving a throw-ahead pass from Doncic to bring the game to two points. Hardaway's transition layup made it 92-92.

“Our two leaders looked great. Even if they didn't, they would have made plays for other guys. P.J. made the big three at the top of the floor,” Kidd said. Said, “They trusted each other offensively and defensively. There are a lot of positives. There's a lot of trust and the chemistry is at its best right now. I really love this group. I believe we will learn from this and get better.”

Thompson's baseline jumper gave the Warriors a two-point lead early in clutch time. Gafford then goaltened trying to clean up a breakdown on a blitz from the Mavs' pick-and-roll defense, allowing a finish on a short roll after Curry's behind-the-back pass. Golden State led by four points with more than two minutes left in regulation time.

Dallas was unable to capitalize on Washington's open corner 3-point shot and committed another goaltending violation on Green's finishing attempt, resulting in the Warriors trailing at 98 with less than two minutes left in the game. He extended his lead to -92.

“We went into the fourth quarter and were probably down by eight to 12 points, so we had to come back,” Irving said. “We need games like this to get in better shape and above all to be mentally, physically, mentally prepared and emotionally ready.”

The Mavs tried to stabilize the game by removing Doncic and Irving from two-man games, but the result was Green blocking Gafford's finishing attempt. Green scored again on the opposite side, driving and finishing off a reverse pick-and-roll. Irving hit a pull-up 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight points and bring Dallas within five points, but the defense was unable to contain Wiggins' baseline drive on a floater. The game was all but decided with Golden State leading 102-95 with 32.2 seconds left.

Washington made a deep 3-pointer followed by a defensive stop by Maxi Kleber, who blocked Thompson's finish on the trail. Irving then made two free throws after being fouled on a transition push. Dallas was trailing 102-100 with 15.0 seconds left. Thompson iced the game after flying perfectly to the free throw line while being fouled.

Irving said he felt the Warriors had made some key adjustments since the last time the teams played in March, and the game had a playoff feel. With both teams going back and forth strategically, Dallas has plenty of footage to consider before the teams meet again Friday at American Airlines Center.

“They've been making adjustments since the last time we played them. Steph was playing, Klay (Thompson) was starting,” Irving said. “They made some changes and it felt like a playoff atmosphere tonight as well. The way we were going back and forth. Just some of the chess moves they were making.”

As the team's leader, Irving emphasized how focused he is on the team making incremental progress, rather than obsessing about falling short of perfection. It's a sentiment he's shared all season as a leader.

“It was a great road trip. My ego and perfectionist side seeped in here and I tried my best to say, 'I wish we could have won 5-0, but that's not what I'm looking for.' We are looking for gradual progress and aim to be able to test in these conditions so that we can prepare for the playoffs. That's my view.

“So this road trip has definitely been great,” Irving continued. “We learned a lot about each other and I think we were able to make up for some of the other games where we let our guard down and got into the game on the last road trip.”

Looking ahead, the Mavs will face the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, beginning a three-game series at American Airlines Center.