The Dallas Mavericks didn’t have Luka Doncic. That just gave Kyrie Irving room to take over the game and more chances for P.J. Washington to drill big shots in a 108-106 win over the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors had a real chance to win a game where they looked dead in the water 101-92 with less than four minutes to go. But Steph Curry scored nine of his 28 points in the final 3:36, rallying to tie the game with 13 seconds to go.
But on the other end, Washington got a go-ahead lay-in with four seconds to go, off a great feed from Tim Hardaway Jr.
P.J. WASHINGTON LAY FOR THE LEAD 💪
4.5 seconds left… https://t.co/oCFYSOdjKD pic.twitter.com/9y0GepVe4u
— NBA (@NBA) April 6, 2024
The Warriors forced the ball out of Kyrie Irving’s hands and his Mavericks teammates made them pay. On the final play, the Mavericks doubled Curry and he bobbled a pass for a second. While he got rid of the ball, a rushed Klay Thompson game-winner went off the rim as time expired.
Curry led the Warriors with 28 points. He shot 9-for-23, but heated up late after Steve Kerr put him in the game very early in the fourth quarter. Thompson had 16, but this was another game where the Dubs got huge contributions from bench players while starters struggled. Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with a plus-minus of -26 in his 20 minutes, while temporary starter Moses Moody was -23.
Meanwhile, Gary Payton II had 14 points, ten of them in the final quarter. Chris Paul had nine points, eight assists, and four steals, while logging a game-high +22 off the bench. Brandin Podziemski added 14 points and made both of his threes, while Kevon Looney had seven rebounds, though he bricked two big free throws late.
For Dallas, Irving had 26 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Washington poured in 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting, while getting five steals and two blocks. Center Daniel Gafford again stymied the Warriors, grabbing 15 boards and blocking three shots. What may have been worse was him adding five assists.
It really looked like the Warriors might come back and win their seventh straight game when Curry hit an absolutely ridiculous deep three down four points.
From DEEP
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/5X6Md8XDnn
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 6, 2024
On the other end, it looked like Curry had drawn a charge on Washington, but we learned that, like the goal line in the NFL, the block/charge circle also extends upward to outer space, even if Curry’s heel was lifted off the line. Still, it was quite a comeback for what appeared to be an exhausted Warriors team playing their seventh road game in eight games.
Steve Kerr switched up his lineup for the second half, substituting Chris Paul for Moses Moody, who was -23 in the first half. But after an 11-4 start from Dallas to start the half, Kerr went with his old standby: Going small. Moody returned for Trayce-Jackson Davis and the ship was righted, mainly due to Klay Thompson’s range and swagger.
The biggest difference in the third quarter was that Dallas started getting to the free throw line, and making their freebies. They went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe in the third, after taking three foul shots in the first half. Meanwhile the Warriors shot 3-for-6, with even Curry missing one. That was the difference in the quarter, which Dallas won 27-22.
In the second quarter, Kyrie Irving started dominating as a passer, while the Warriors seemed stymied by Daniel Gafford at the rim. Steph Curry missed one layup attempt over the the backboard due to Gaffordphobia.
Luckily, the Warriors have their own Daniel Gafford in Trayce Jackson-Davis, who defended the paint and single-handedly equalized the Warriors’ size disadvantage. He had eight points and seven rebounds in the first half, closing the second quarter scoring with an alley-oop layup off a Chris Paul assist.
Perhaps the most shocking moment of the second quarter came early, when Steve Kerr challenged an out-of-bounds call — and actually succeeded! It’s Kerr’s 16th successful challenge of the season, and while it was an easy call, making layups still counts in your shooting percentage!
Much like Tuesday’s game, Dallas jumped out to a big first-quarter lead. Tuesday, it was a 9-0 start driven by a bunch of made threes. Friday, it was a 21-10 lead driven by a bunch of threes, specifically three triples by P.J. Washington.
Dallas ran the lead up to 29-13, and it could have been worse if the officials hadn’t waved off a potential Kyrie Irving three-point play. Then the Warriors got right back in the game with a 14-0 run thanks to two Brandin Podziemski jumpers, a Curry triple, and a 1-on-4 fast break bucket from Klay Thompson.
Jim Barnett may not have totally approved, but it was an incredible hustle basket. The Dubs also got an elbow jumper from Mavs-killer Kevon Looney, which may have been his longest made basket of the year. Improbably, a Chris Paul two-for-one, sandwiched around a CP3 steal, left the Warriors actually leading at the end of the quarter, 32-31, after closing on a 19-2 run.
You could argue that the Warriors simply didn’t have sufficient motivation in this game. Golden State was fired up to avenge Tari Eason’s Instagram story, avoid the embarrassment of not even making the play-in games, and continue to shove it down the throats of Houston releasing a report arguing that, actually, they really won Game 7 of the 2018 conference finals if the referees weren’t so unfair!
Meanwhile, the Warriors played the Mavericks in the 2022 playoffs, but there simply isn’t all that much animosity. Theo Pinson kept camouflaging himself on the sidelines in the playoffs, but now he’s in the G League. Jason Kidd should be an enemy, but he’s from Alameda and he went to Cal. The Warriors have faced Kyrie Irving in three NBA Finals, but they all kind of like him.
Even Mark Cuban went on “The Draymond Green Show” this week! Maybe the lack of heat in the rivalry comes from having a 15-year gap between playoff battles. For the record, Golden State is undefeated against the Mavericks in the postseason.
The Warriors missed an opportunity to possibly catch the Sacramento Kings and climb out of tenth place after they lost a heartbreaker to the Boston Celtics. The Dubs will face the Utah Jazz Sunday before what may be a big 9-10 preview against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday. At least it’s the last time they’ll have to see P.J. Washington this year.
