DALLAS ( Associated Press) — Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Andrew Wiggins added 27 while Luka Doncic posted on a dunk and the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 on Sunday night, 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals. took the lead.
Klay Thompson scored 19 runs with a pair of big fourth-quarter 3-pointers as the Warriors went within a comeback victory in the NBA Finals, winning three championships after the end of five consecutive trips for three years.
Golden State, which trounced Portland in their most recent West Finals in 2019 before clinching the Toronto title, goes for a sweep in Game 4 in Dallas on Tuesday. No team has gone down 3–0 to win the NBA playoff series.
Doncic scored 40 and beat the first quarter buzzer with a 32-footer, which again took the crowd 2–0 at home, as they did against top-seeded Phoenix before winning the West semi-final series in seven matches. Was.
But that shimmy-inducing bucket was a blip in an otherwise rough night from the 3-point boundary for the Mavericks, who missed their first seven and finished 13 for 45.
Reggie Bullock and Maxi Kleber, two long-distance specialists from Dallas, missed all 12 of their 3 runs combined and were 0–15 overall. Both went scoreless, offsetting Spencer Dinwiddie’s 26 points from the bench. Jalen Brunson scored 20 runs.
Wiggins’ sting on Doncic was basically ruled by an offensive foul in the middle of the fourth quarter. The Warriors challenged, and the ruling Wiggins’ elbow was accidental contact with Doncic, giving Golden State a 93–83 lead.
About a minute later, Wiggins, who had 11 rebounds, went down the correct baseline early for a follow dunk on a miss by Curry as the Warriors extended their NBA record with the 26th consecutive series in which they won at least one. Won the road game.
One of Dinwiddie’s 3-pointers got Dallas to within five points with 1:15 remaining, but Jordan Poole answered within the last minute with one from the left wing.
What just happened?
The most tense moment of the series came late after the first half Curry’s a corner 3 scored 8-0 That put the Warriors ahead by one point and helped them to a 48-47 halftime lead. And it confused Curry.
Curry ran the length of the court with his tongue hanging out after Dallas called a timeout. As he headed back toward his bench, Curry was walked by Doncic with teammate Juan Toscano-Andersen.
Doncic took issue with what Toscano-Andersen had said and headed to the Golden State bench before officials with both teams’ coaches and players intervened. Meanwhile, Drummond Greene and injured Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. exchanged unpleasant things about 45 feet away.
After the time runs out, Curry can be seen saying, “What happened?” And contacted Doncic to talk about it. The exchange ended with Green as the peacemaker with Doncic.
Tip-ins
Warriors: After an extended conversation with official Mark Davis, Greene received a technical foul when he was called for a backcourt violation when he tried to step back to the midcourt line to catch a long, unexpected pass from Curry. Of. , The crowd was roaring for a technicality and finally got it. Seconds later, Green was called for his first foul and did not like the call. But he directed his complaint to his back rather than to the caretaker. … Otto Porter Jr., who averaged 10.5 points at 82% in the first two games, was confined to the locker room in the first half and was ruled out due to a pain in his left leg.
Mavericks: Bullock wins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Award, He has been active in the LGBTQ+ community. His sister, a transgender woman, was killed in 2014. Bullock worked with several organizations in the Dallas area after signing as a free agent in the off-season and has long been active in similar activities in his native North Carolina. … Dorian Finney-Smith got a technical start in the second half for an elbow on Green’s back after a Dallas free throw.
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