Tag: STEPH CURRY
Mavs’ Kidd: ‘We know going into Golden State it’s a tough place to win, but we’ve won there before’
The Dallas Mavericks kept their season alive after defeating the Golden State Warriors at home 119-109 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
Golden State still leads the series 3-1, and Game 5 is Thursday at Chase Center.
Dallas had their largest lead of 29 points in the third. However, the Warriors would cut the lead to eight in the fourth, but the Mavs were able to hold them off.
It was a team effort as the Mavs, who had six players in double figures and had 30 assists, were led by Luka Doncic’s 30 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks, and two steals, and Dorian Finney-Smith added 23 points.
They still have to win three more games to win this series, but Doncic still has hope.
“I still believe we can win, you know. Swept or not swept,” Doncic said. “In the end, if you lose, you lose. Don’t matter how many we win. We have to go game by game. We going to believe until the end…
“We got more to do, you know. This is nothing. We got three more. We have to go game by game and believe.”
Finney-Smith felt the Mavs played like a desperate team in Game 4.
“Everybody in that locker room feel like we have more basketball to play,” he said. “We just wanted to get the win by any means necessary, and I feel like we came out desperate that first half.”
It’s a make-or-miss league, and the Mavs made shots Tuesday night as they hit 20 threes for the fourth time this postseason and shot 50% from the floor.
“Yeah, we’ve felt all along we’re getting great looks,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “Sometimes they go in; sometimes they don’t in this series so far. It’s a matter about making shots.”
No team has ever come back after being down 3-0, but the message from Kidd is to take it one game at a time.
“We believe it’s just one game at a time,” Kidd said. “We did our part tonight. We found a way to win. The next part is to find a way to win on the road. Again, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s still 3-1. We know going into Golden State it’s a tough place to win, but we’ve won there before.”
The odds are still against the Mavs, but anything can happen.
Notes:
-The Warriors, who had seven players in the double figures, were led by Stephen Curry’s 20 points, marking his 100th 20-point game in the postseason. He became the 16th player to record 100-or-more 20-point games in the playoffs.
Reggie Bullock had 18 points on 6-10 shooting from deep. Bullock tied his career-best of 6 3-pointers, when he had a playoff career-best 21 points (Game 2 at GSW).
Jalen Brunson recorded 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists tonight. This was Brunson’s fourth game with 15-5-5 in the postseason, with all of the instances coming this year.
Maxi Kleber went 5-6 off the bench for 13 points, while Spencer Dinwiddie added 10 points and a playoff career-best-tying 8 assists off the bench.
-The game was delayed 16 minutes before the third quarter as water came through the roof at American Airlines Center.
Doncic: ‘I think the Warriors are playing incredible’
The Golden State Warriors are one game away from the NBA Finals after defeating the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 in Game 3 Sunday night at American Airlines Center.
The Warriors lead the series 3-0, and Game 4 is Tuesday night in Dallas.
No team in NBA history has won a series down 3-0.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points (5-10 3FG), five rebounds, and 11 assists, and Andrew Wiggins had a career playoff-high 27 points and a career playoff-high-tying 11 rebounds.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with a game-high 40 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
Doncic did his job Sunday night, but things fell apart in the third as the Warriors outscored the Mavs by nine in the quarter and had their largest lead of 14.
According to Doncic, the Warriors have excellent continuity, which has made things difficult for the Mavs.
“I think the Warriors are playing incredible,” Doncic said. “Everybody knows their role. Everybody just stays together. They’re a long-built team. They’ve been together for a long time, and I think they’re playing good basketball, so that’s what I think is going to be really difficult, and these past three games, it’s been very difficult.”
The Warriors killed the Mavs on the glass. Golden State outrebounded Dallas 47-34 and had 18 second-chance points. Kevon Looney had a game-high 12 rebounds. Doncic gave Looney a lot of credit, but he feels the Mavs have to do a better job on the boards going forward.
“I think, like I say, the rebounding. We’ve got to be way better. We’ve got to be more physical. It’s really tough with Looney; he’s an unbelievable player. He’s very underrated. Nobody talks about him. But I think he’s been doing an amazing job, and it’s tough with him. He’s a strong dude, and he helps them a lot. He’s a great role player, and we’ve got to do a better job boxing him out.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd added: “Yeah, we just have to be physical and make contact to keep them from crashing. A lot of times, they hit us too late, and so when you’re playing small, we have to just — we’ve got to hit; first, we can’t hit second.”
This series is probably over. However, the sentiment from the Mavs is they have to take it one game at a time.
“One game at a time,” Spencer Dinwiddie, who has 26 points off the bench, said. “I mean, that’s really it.”
Jalen Brunson, who had 20 points, added: “One game at a time, plain and simple. That’s all we have, one game at a time.”
No matter what happens the rest of the way, the 2021-22 NBA season is a success for the Dallas Mavericks, but it would be nice to get one game in this series, and we’ll see if they can get that one in Game 4.
Luka and the Mavs are still confident after Game 1 loss to Warriors
The Golden State Warriors brought the defensive energy in Game 1 of their Western Conference finals series against the Dallas Mavericks.
Behind the defense of Andrew Wiggins, Golden State held Luka Doncic to 20 points on 6/18 shooting from the floor, including 3/10 from deep. The Mavericks shot only 36% from the field, including 22% from downtown, and they fell to the Warriors 112-87 at Chase Center Wednesday night.
Game 2 is Friday night at Chase Center.
Golden State led by as many as 30 points and had seven guys in double figures, led by Steph Curry’s game-highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
The Warriors are second in opponents’ field goal percentage(43%) in the playoffs, so you knew they would not make it easy for Doncic and the Mavs.
“Just make him work, that was the main thing, 94 feet, just make him work, pick him up, make everything tough for him,” Wiggins, who added 19 points, said about guarding Doncic after the win. “He’s a good player, great player, so he’s going to make shots. He’s going to do his thing but just stay on him, make it tough.”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr added on Wiggins’ defense against Doncic: “I thought Wiggs was fantastic. Doncic is as difficult a cover as there in this league, and we just asked Wiggs to try to hound him and guard him as best as he could, stay in front, and try to keep the pressure on him, and he did a fantastic job. Wiggs is just a huge part of our defense and our team. I thought he was great offensively as well. So great night for Andrew.
Doncic agreed with Kerr and felt the Warriors played well against him on the defensive end, but according to Doncic, he has to be better.
“Yeah, they were doing a great job on me, especially in the second half,’ Doncic said. “But I think I’ve got to be better. That’s on me. As a leader, I’ve got to be better for the whole group, so that’s on me.”
The Mavericks have been in this position before. Dallas lost Game 1 in the first two rounds of the playoffs and trailed 2-0 to the Suns in the second round of the playoffs, so there’s no panic with this team. As he walked off the court at the end of the game, Doncic had a smile on his face.
“Like I say, I said in the Phoenix series, we’re going to believe,” he said. “So the confidence is the same. It’s tough to win every game, so some you’re going to lose. But the confidence stays the same”
Dallas could not make shots, but their head coach Jason Kidd was happy with his team’s looks and is confident they could make those shots in Game 2.
“There were a lot of great looks that just didn’t go down,” Kidd said. “It happens. It’s basketball. Hopefully, we get those same looks in Game 2, and we believe we’ll make them.”
Obviously, this series is far from over, and great players like Doncic find ways. The Mavs have to throw this one away, make adjustments, and get ready for Game 2.
Steph Curry puts on a show in Cleveland
Steph Curry put on a show Sunday night and put a bow on All-Star Weekend in Cleveland. Curry had 50 points on 17/30 shooting from the floor, including 16/27 from three-point range as Team LeBron defeated Team Durant 163-160 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland fans booed Curry throughout All-Star Weekend, but he turned to jeers to cheers after this special performance.
The 16 threes are an All-Star game record, and he fell two points short of the All-Star record of 52 points, which Anthony Davis set in 2017.
Curry has done a lot during his NBA career. He’s won two regular-season MVPs, three NBA titles, but he’s never won an All-Star MVP. After his fantastic performance, Curry became the first recipient of the Kobe Bryant Trophy as he was named All-Star MVP.
“This is definitely special,” Curry said. “The first year you got to honor Kobe and his life and his legacy with this trophy. All the thought that went into it. I can’t spit it off the top I my head, but I know that everything on this trophy means something in terms of his life and what he represented, accomplishments on the court, and to have it be an All-Star MVP trophy and for it to be the first one, it definitely makes it special. I’ve only won one, and to have this one, it will have a special place at my house.”
Both Curry and LeBron James were born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio, and it was fitting that James, who spent many years with the Cavaliers, would be the guy that hit the game-winner, which Curry discussed postgame.
“Yeah, I told him on the court after the game it was kind of a perfect ending,” Curry said. “I was chasing that extra two or three points. I think DeMar(DeRozan) hit a big shot, and then he came out and hit the game-winner. It was kind of a perfect ending. Obviously, I got the MVP; I played well the whole night. He hit the game-winner. All the history of our series and the Akron ties, and all that kind of going into how the night went, so it was pretty — can’t really draw it up any other way. It’s right on the nose of how it should go.”
At halftime, the NBA, which is celebrating its 75th season, honored the top 75 players in league history, and Curry, who was on the list, enjoyed being around some of the greats of the game.
“It definitely took me back to just growing up watching the game,” he said. “There was a moment we were out there; we didn’t want to leave the stage. I don’t know if anybody saw. I was just enjoying the moment. With me, D-Wade, CP, Bron, Giannis. Somebody else was over there. We were all kind of just acknowledging how we were like kids in a candy store laughing and just what was actually happening and what that accomplishment actually means, and you look around and see all-time greats that we looked up to coming up in the game.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. I don’t think I will for a while. You see the names on the list, and you understand and appreciate when the announcement came out that you made the team and all that, but when you see them in person, and you feel like the aura of what they were and are in terms of history of the game, it’s just a whole different experience. That was special.”
The Warriors(42-17) are 6.5 games behind the Suns(48-10) for the top spot in the Western Conference. Golden State is expected to get back All-Star Draymond Green and James Wiseman, and Curry is excited about what the Warriors could be going forward.
“All we can do is control what we can control, and I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of that so far,” Curry said. “Like you said, we’ve had a lot of injuries, and we haven’t been whole in a very long time. When Klay(Thompson) came back, Draymond was out the same night—still waiting on the three of us to take the floor again. But it’s all kind of shaping up to try to peak at the right time. Hopefully, Draymond is back quick. Still got Wise (James Wiseman) on the burner, ready to make his appearance this year, and then figure out what our rotation is going to look like going into the best part of the year. But to be in that conversation again after last two years that we’ve had, I’m pretty rejuvenated and excited to be back in that atmosphere.”
The Suns will be without Chris Paul for the rest of the regular season, so maybe the Warriors could make a push for the top spot in the West in the final seven weeks of the season. No matter what happens with Phoenix, Golden State is a legitimate contender for an NBA title.
Cavs’ Allen on loss to Warriors: ‘We didn’t play to who we are; we kinda played timidly’
It was “Klay Day” Sunday night at Chase Center as Warriors star Klay Thompson returned after missing two-plus years due to ACL and Achilles injuries.
In his return, Thompson scored 17 points, including three threes. This was a great day for Thompson, a great day for the Warriors, and a great day for the NBA.
Oh, by the way, Golden State defeated the Cavs 96-82.
Golden State(30-9) snapped their two-game losing streak, while the Cavs(22-18) have lost two of three.
Here is the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the Warriors.
The Great for the Cavaliers:
Fourth Quarter Rondo: Rajon Rondo set a season-high in points for the second straight night. He scored 13(5/6 FG, 3/3 3 PT) of his 15 points in the fourth. Golden State led by as many as 21 points in the fourth, and two Rondo threes cut the lead to 10 on two occasions. Rondo did everything in his power to get the Cavs back into the game, but it wasn’t enough.
No Fear Stevens: Lamar Stevens played with no fear Sunday night. The second-year guard scored a career-high 17 points with four rebounds and two steals. Whether it was guarding Thompson or finishing at the rim, Stevens was fearless.
The Not so Great for the Cavaliers:
Turnovers: Cleveland was reckless with the ball Sunday night. They committed 19 turnovers, which led to 25 Warrior points. Evan Mobley was the biggest culprit with five turnovers. You can’t turn the ball over against one of the best teams in basketball and expect to win.
Rebounding: The Warriors outrebounded Cleveland 54-42, including 22 offensive rebounds. In addition, Golden State had 22 second-chance points. Again, you can’t give a team like the Warriors extra possessions and extra opportunities and expect to win.
Third Quarter: After taking a 51-46 lead at the break, Golden State outscored the Cavs 28-14 in the third. The Warriors led 66-55 midway through the third, and they went on a 13-0 run to take their largest lead of 24 points. Cleveland struggled with shotmaking as they shot 40% from the floor, including 1/5 from deep in the quarter.
Darius Garland: Garland is undoubtedly playing like an All-Star, but he came up short on the big stage. He shot 3/12 from the floor and finished with nine points, two rebounds, and four assists; he also had four turnovers.
Bottom Line:
The moment seemed too big for the young Cavaliers. That was a playoff atmosphere Sunday night, and the Cavs were not ready for the moment. However, Cleveland will learn from this game.
The goal for this team is to make the playoffs, and they will experience these types of environments come playoff time.
“I’m going to take it one step further; it felt like a Finals game,” Allen said after a reporter asked him if it felt like a playoff atmosphere. “I mean, everything that the Warriors did, they got a big cheer from the crowd, but that is to be expected when you come to the Chase Center. They have great fans here, and they are going to make the game intense. We kinda looked at the moment, and we kinda – J.B.(Bickerstaff) said in the locker room that we shied away from it – and I think that is true. We didn’t play to who we are; we kinda played timidly.”
What’s Next:
Cleveland gets right back at it Monday night as they travel to Sacramento to play the Kings. The Cavs will play five games in seven days
Best of the Rest:
-Steph Curry had a game-high 28 points for the Warriors, including 4/11 from downtown.
-Jarrett Allen added 12 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks; Mobley chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds for Cleveland.
Watch below as Allen talks loss to Warriors:
Mavs’ Doncic on win over GSW: ‘It was just an amazing night – one you will never forget’
On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks honored Dirk Nowitzki by retiring his numb4r 41 jersey, but before that, a player who could also get his jersey retired one day, Luka Doncic, went to work against the team with the best record in the league, the Golden State Warriors(29-8).
Doncic had a game-high 26 points to go along with seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists as the Mavericks(20-18) defeated the Warriors 99-82 at American Airlines Center.
Dorian Finney-Smith added 17 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, and Jalen Brunson extended his career-best double-figure scoring streak to 19 games with 15 points tonight.
Dallas, who held the Warriors to a season-low 82 points, has won four straight and five of their last six.
The Mavericks had a great defensive night and held Steph Curry to 14 points on 5/24 shooting.
“You know the Warriors are going to score. Steph [Curry] is going to make 3s,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. “We just tried to make it as tough as possible and then, on the offensive end, take care of the ball. We felt our defense did a great job tonight and gave us a chance to win.”
Ironically, on the night Dirk Nowitzki’s number 41 was officially retired, Doncic’s point/rebound/assist stat line added up to 41.
“It was just an amazing night – one you will never forget,” Doncic said. “With the game – the Warriors are one of the best teams in the world right now, and we did an amazing job. And after that was even more special. To be there in the front row to see that was special.”
Doncic rolled his ankle near the end of the game, but according to him, he’s fine.
“I twisted it a little bit but not that bad,” he said. “I guess it will be OK. It just hurts a little bit, but I will be fine.”
It was a great night for the current Mavericks and a great night for Nowitzki, who is the only player in league history to play 21 seasons with the same franchise. In addition, the 14-time All-Star led the Mavericks to their only NBA championship in 2011 en route to being named Finals MVP.
Despite all the love, Nowitzki found a way to avoid shedding tears Wednesday night, but he was close.
“Yeah, some of the videos got me – which it’s a good thing I didn’t have to speak then and there,” Nowitzki said. “Super cool stuff, and I didn’t know we were doing a whole championship run and seeing some of those clips and the guys sitting there so proud – it was so cool. It’s funny. Yeah, it got me a little bit there, and Mark [Cuban] was speaking, and he got emotional, and that was a tough one.
“The kids said some really nice things when I had some tears in my eyes. But, my speech was finally good. I think I worked on it for weeks now, so in you’re head, you’re like, ‘what’s next? What’s next?’ and you’re kind of trying not to mess up, but then the fans got me just like the other day at the press conference, just thinking about the support. Like I mentioned the other day, [I appreciate] how many people have come up to me and said they appreciated what I did for the city [and] for this organization, and that always gets me.”
Overall, January 5, 2022, was a good day for the Dallas Mavericks.
Suns’ Chris Paul reacts to end of 18-game win streak, says Curry’s handle makes him special
It was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. After 18 straight wins, the Phoenix Suns’ (19-4) winning streak is over. The Suns fell to the Warriors 118-96 at Chase Center Friday night.
The last time Phoenix tasted defeat was on October 27 against the Sacramento Kings. The Suns had a perfect month of November(16-0), including Tuesday’s 104-96 win over the Warriors at Footprint Center.
On Friday, Golden State(19-3) was in control from the start and ultimately led by as many as 27 points.
It’s always good to win, and according to Chris Paul, who had 12 points and eight assists against the Warriors, the streak was good times.
“The winning streak was a lot of fun,” Paul said. “It’s been a long time since we felt a loss. Hell, let’s start a new one.”
However, Paul said he doesn’t remember much from the streak.
“I don’t remember too much,” he said. “I don’t remember when it started.”
Well, Chris, it started on October 30 against the Cavaliers.
Phoenix was without their leading scorer in Devin Booker(hamstring), and they lost Mikal Bridges, who did return, in the first half after he injured his hand, so not having Booker, you knew the Suns had to be at their best to beat the Warriors. Plus, the Warriors have now have won 12 straight at Chase Center.
Steph Curry, who struggled Tuesday as he shot 4/21 from the field, including 3/14 from downtown and finished 12 points, bounced back Friday. Curry scored 23 points(8/20 FG), including 6/11 from three-point range.
The two-time MVP is on the verge of surpassing Ray Allen as the all-team leader in threes made. Curry is the best shooter in NBA history, and Paul believes Curry’s dribbling ability separates him from other shooters.
“It ain’t just the shooting; it’s the handle,” Paul said. “It’s a lot of people that can shoot. A lot of people can’t handle the ball like that, and the confidence in how he shoots and the way he gets his team going. He just kept getting better and better.”
The Suns and Warriors will see each other again in Phoenix on Christmas, and based on what we saw this week, that game should be a lot of fun.
What’s next:
Phoenix is off until Monday when they return home to battle the Spurs.
Watch below as Paul talks the end of the 18-game win streak, and the handles of Steph Curry:
Suns’ Booker on games against Warriors: ‘This is primetime basketball’
After this week, we may know who is the best team in the Western Conference, and possibly the NBA. The Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors play two times this week, starting on Tuesday in Phoenix. The two teams will play again on Friday at Chase Center.
Currently, the Warriors(18-2), who have the best record in basketball, are on a seven-game winning streak, and during that streak, Golden State has outscored opponents, 112.0 to 97.6 points per game while the Suns(17-3), who have the second-best record in the NBA, are on a 16-game winning streak.
Tuesday’s game marks the first time in NBA history that two teams from the same division with winning percentages above .850 meet over 20 games into a season (sixth time in NBA history regardless of division or conference).
In addition, if Phoenix wins tonight, this would be their 17th-straight win, which would match the longest winning streak in franchise history (also did so during 2006-07 season).
This could be a preview of the Western Conference Finals. According to Devin Booker, who was named Western Conference Player of the Week, the Western Conference champions want to win championships like Golden State.
“They’re battle-tested, they’re champions,” Booker said about Warriors on Monday. “They’ve done everything that I’m trying to get to… You have two talented teams that know how to play against each other. Now, it’s coming down to competing for the full 48 minutes…
“This is primetime basketball. This is what people pay to watch, people pay to see; I’m excited to be a part of it.”
With a win, the Suns would move to 18-3 on the season, matching the franchise record for best record through the first 21 games of a season.
Look, it’s early, and there is a lot of basketball left to be played. However, these two games should be a lot of fun. Both teams want to send a message, and this would be an excellent time to send that message.
Listen below as Booker talks big game against Golden State:
Cavs’ Bickerstaff: ‘Stephen Curry is a hell of a basketball player’
The Cavaliers were again without many of their key players on Thursday night against the Warriors. They were missing Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Cedi Osman, and Lamar Stevens. Also, they were playing the second half of a back-to-back after losing to Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
Cleveland took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter but was outscored 36-8 in the final period, and Golden State would defeat the Cavs 104-89 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Cavaliers(9-8) have now lost three straight while the Warriors(13-2) have won nine of 10.
Here is the Great, the Not so Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the Warriors.
The Great for the Cavaliers:
-Cleveland had five players in double figures led by Darius Garland, who scored 18 of his team and season-high 25 points in the first half. In that first half, Garland was 7/12 from the field, including four threes.
-Kevin Love scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter off the bench. Love was on fire in third as he was 3/4 from the field, including 2/3 from downtown. This was his second straight solid performance after he missed eight games due to COVID.
-Dean Wade gave the Cavs 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in 40 minutes of action. He also made three threes.
-Ed Davis got his second consecutive start on Thursday night, and he did a great job on the glass. Davis, who started at center, had seven points, grabbed 13 of his game-high 14 rebounds in the first half, and added two blocks. The 13 rebounds in a half is a career-high for Davis.
Third Quarter: Cleveland had another extraordinary third quarter. After outscoring the Nets 32-19 in the third on Wednesday night, the Cavs outscored the Warriors 27-17 in the quarter. Golden State shot only 41.2% from the field, including 2/8 from three-point range. Love scored 11 points, and the Cavaliers took a 13-point lead into the fourth(81-68). However, the fourth quarter was a different story.
The Not So Great for the Cavaliers:
Fourth Quarter: Cleveland led 81-68 entering the fourth, but the Warriors, mainly Steph Curry, woke up. The two-time MVP scored 20 of his game-high 40 points in the quarter, including four threes. Golden State went on a 17-0 run to start the fourth to take the lead. Cleveland went almost six minutes without a point.
The Warriors outscored the Cavs 36-8 in the final period. Cleveland went cold as they shot 2/14 from the field, including 0-7 from downtown.
Turnovers: The Cavaliers did not take care of the ball against the Warriors, and they finished with 20 turnovers, including seven by Garland.
Bottom Line:
For 36 minutes, it appeared the Cavs could pull off the upset, but the Warriors are one of the best teams in the league for a reason, and it showed. Despite the loss, Cleveland can hold their heads high. They battled two of the best teams in basketball, with 80% percent of their opening-day starting lineup in street clothes. Now, they get three days off, which will give players time to get healthy.
“Stephen Curry is a hell of a basketball player,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The shots he was making weren’t easy.”