Curry, Looney lead Warriors past Mavs for 2-0 series lead
Stephen Curry scored 32 points with six 3-pointers and eight rebounds and Kevon Looney had a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, as the Golden State Warriors used one of their signature third-quarter flurries to rally past the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Luka Dončić and the Mavericks led most of the way before the Warriors took their first lead of the night on Otto Porter Jr.'s 3-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth. Porter’s three-point play with 7:21 remaining made it 100-92.
Dončić scored 18 of his 42 points in the first quarter — two points shy of his 20-point Game 1 total. His 3-pointer with 13 seconds before halftime put Dallas up 72-58 at the break and gave him 24 points.
He even got a Twitter shoutout from Oakland’s own MC Hammer:
But the Warriors answered with a 25-13 third quarter to pull to 85-83 going into fourth — a third quarter reminiscent of those that defined so many of their recent playoff runs.
Dončić shot 12 for 23 and shined in a game of brilliant shot making — the Warriors finished 56.1% from the floor. In the first half alone, Dallas edged Golden State 52.3% to 51.2%, including a remarkable 55.6% to 53.3% from 3-point range.
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday. Golden State is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals for the first time since making five straight trips from 2015-19.
Jordan Poole scored 23 points off the bench, Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Klay Thompson — held scoreless in the first half of the series opener — added 15 points for a second straight game.
Jalen Brunson scored eight of the first 14 Dallas points on the way to 31. The Mavericks didn’t have to see as much of Draymond Green, who picked up his fifth foul with 6:01 left in the third, then returned with 6:33 left before fouling out with 2:25 to go.
The teams tangled with 8:03 left in the second quarter in front of the Dallas bench. Warriors reserve Damion Lee closed out as Davis Bertans hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Bertans tripped Lee and sent him in a flip hard to the floor. Lee had to be held back by official Eric Lewis.
The players were issued double technicals.
In Game 1 two days earlier, Dončić faced smothering defense from Wiggins and shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep.
"Luka just didn’t make shots," coach Jason Kidd said in predicting a far better outing in Game 2.
Golden State continued to push the pace and committed 16 turnovers after 15 in the opener.
Reporting by Associated Press.
