DALLAS: Not even a leaky roof could stop the Dallas Mavericks from forcing a game 5.
The Mavericks rained triples and held on to a Golden State Warriors fourth-quarter rally to win 119-109 in the game 4 Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center. The Warriors have a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
Dallas defeated eight triples in the third quarter to take a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter. Golden State rushed to open the final period, forcing the Mavericks to put Luka Doncic back on.
The Warriors cut an eight-point deficit with most bench players on the ground before making a final push with three starters and Jordan Poole at 3:03. The Mavericks had to keep going for their star to avoid elimination for at least one more game.
Doncic finished with less than a triple-double assist with 30 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. His teammates offered much-needed help after a sad presentation of the 3rd game. Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points, and Reggie Bullock, after a goalless draw, added 18.
The Mavericks were 20 of 43 from the 3-point range (46.5%). They fired 50% from the field.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 20 points and eight assists. Poole added 14 points from the bench.
The match was delayed 16 minutes after the break, while the arena crew boarded a leak on the roof that saw water accumulating on the track.
Game 5 is Thursday at 9pm ET (TNT) at the San Francisco Chase Center.
Dallas Mavericks baseman Luka Doncic takes the ball on the court against Golden State Warriors baseman Stephen Curry in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on May 24, 2022 (Tom Pennington / Getty Images)