DALLAS (AP) – Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks had to wait for a rain delay in the middle of the game and sweat some tense moments towards the end.
Once they did, they avoided a sweep and were still alive in the Western Conference finals.
Doncic had 30 points and 14 rebounds, and the Mavericks beat Golden State 119-109 in the fourth game Tuesday night, when there was a 16-minute rain delay at the start of the second half. the Warriors reduced a 29-point lead. to a single digit late.
“I just have to finish the game. A win is a win,” said Doncic, who threw 10 of 26 with just three of three, but received a lot of help from his secondary cast.
It was the tenth double-double in his 14 games this postseason for Doncic, who also made nine assists. When he scored 40 points in Game 3, Reggie Bullock shot 0 out of 10 with seven fouls from a distance of 3 points.
Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points on 9 of 13 shots and Bullock added 18 points on 6 of 10, all of 3. Jalen Brunson had 15 points and Maxi Kleber, who threw 2 of 14 (all 3) on the first three games, he made two 3s before the break and was 5 of 6 in total for 13 points.
“Everyone in that locker room felt like we had more basketball to play with,” Finney-Smith said. “We just wanted to get the win anyway. … I feel like we came out desperate this first half.”
The defeat broke the streak of nine consecutive Warriors wins in the Western Conference Finals, though they still have firm control of that series that returned to California for the fifth game Thursday night.
“It was almost like an ego victory (for Dallas). Get out and you really have nothing to lose. So that confidence started soon,” Stephen Curry said. “It simply came to our notice then. That’s when the avalanche started. You point the hat at them. “
Curry had 20 points and returned to the game with 3:22 left — his first appearance in the fourth quarter — after the Warriors had cut a 29-point lead to 110-102. But they never got close even after Curry and other headliners returned to the track.
“I just made the decision to see if we could do a miracle, but it didn’t have to be,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Dallas has been great tonight. They deserved to win. This is the end of the conference. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Doncic made a kill and Bullock had his sixth triple, among the 20 long-range marks of the Mavericks, who now have 11 games this postseason with at least 15 3s.
“I still think we can win. Sweep or not sweep, if you lose, you lose,” Doncic said. “I have to go game by game.”
No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 disadvantage to win a series. Only three of the 146 teams that have fallen into that deep hole have even been able to force a seventh game.
The Mavericks have been swept to the top seven only once in their 34 series. It was against Oklahoma City in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, after Dallas won his only NBA title the previous season.
The rain that seeped through the roof of the American Airlines Center caused the delay after the break. It was raining heavily outside and there were at least two leaks. One was dropping water near the Golden State Bank, and at the other end of the track water seemed to be falling on the bleachers.
It was the second such delay this season in the 21-year-old building. The start of a March 21 game against Minnesota was delayed by 15 minutes due to dripping water near the visitors’ bench.
Dallas went ahead to stay with a 25-6 run for a nearly 7-minute period in the second quarter during which the Warriors missed nine of 10 shots and made two losses.
Golden State went up 31-29 after a jump from Moses Moody, then only basketed one of the next seven minutes. A Davis Bertans triple put the Mavericks in the lead for good.
The Mavericks had a 62-47 lead after Doncic drove in a strong lead, responding to Curry’s basket at the other end.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
A moment of silence just before the sinking occurred hours after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire on a Texas elementary school about 375 miles away in Uvalde, Texas, west of St. Louis. Antonio, in the southern part of the state. The moment also recognized a teacher-coach from Palestine, Texas, who died Sunday night when his car was hit by a wrong driver while driving the few more than 100 miles home from the 3rd game. Two students with him were injured.
100th 20 DE CURRY
Curry had his 20-point playoff game number 100 of his career. Only the 16th player gets it. Everyone else in front of him is at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, they are still active or retired players and are not yet eligible for induction into the Hall, like Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.
PORTER OUT
The Warriors were left without Otto Porter Jr., who averaged 10.5 points at 82% when shooting the first two games before leaving Game 3 due to a left foot injury. He was not dressed on Tuesday.
STOP SHORT
Draymond Green went to the free-kick line in the middle of the third quarter and his first attempt came to a complete stop on the wide back side of the edge. After Doncic and Green were together in the lane laughing at this, the ball was finally thrown. Then Green also missed the second attempt and bounced off Doncic.