The Golden State Warriors return to the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight seasons. They scored their ticket Thursday night with a comfortable 120-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the fifth game of the Western Conference Finals to win the series 4-1. Now, the Warriors will await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
In keeping with the trend during the conference finals, this game was largely uncompetitive. The Mavericks stayed up early and made a run towards the end of the third quarter to briefly reduce the deficit to one digit, but never led the night. These were all Warriors, as they played one of their most complete games of the postseason. They mastered painting and glass, limited rotations, and attended 36 of their 45 baskets.
Klay Thompson turned the clock around with his best game in the series, with eight triples and 32 points to lead the way. Six different Warriors scored in two figures, including Andrew Wiggins, who scored 18 points and 10 rebounds in another good performance. The Warriors also threw the ball well from the center, with 14 of 36.
Luka Doncic had a difficult start, but caught fire in the third quarter to lead the Mavericks’ comeback attempt. He finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss. Spencer Dinwiddie also added 26 points from the bench. These are the most important results of game 5.
Strength in numbers
You can attribute Golden State’s 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 to many things, but an obstructed Stephen Curry would be at the top of this list, so when Curry seems to have adjusted his ankle early game 5 with another 3-1 advantage, Warriors fans had every right to panic. Kevin Durant is no longer here. Curry was the only warrior to win NBA honors and is playing against one of the best players in the NBA. Many teams, in similar circumstances, would have withdrawn without their best player playing to the fullest.
The Warriors won this game with Curry as the fifth highest scorer. Draymond Green, who usually never shoots, recognized the moment and gave 17 points to Golden State. Kevon Looney’s 18 rebounds gave the Warriors an over-17 margin in the cup. Andrew Wiggins defended Luka Doncic brilliantly. The list goes on and on. Even rookie Moses Moody had a good stretch in the second quarter. Nemanja Bjelica played one of the best defenders in his life.
Steve Kerr’s mantra since taking over the Warriors has been “strength in numbers.” He plays deep rotations even in the playoffs and emphasizes the commitment of all the players on his team. That is why he is committing this crime of motion. But the last two Golden State championships were ultimately a function of talent. The Warriors had more than anyone. In a sense, this is still true. It’s just not the talent of a megastar to take them forward. It’s a whole list of different skills that carry different loads as needed. Diads, you could almost be forgiven for forgetting that they played Game 5 without three key collaborators (Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala, and Gary Payton II).
In a way, this is the kind of ending that Kerr has always wanted to do. No Warriors team has better aligned with their coaching philosophy. This was really a team victory, and if they get four more, it will be a team championship.
Live for the Luka, die for the Luka
The Golden State mantra is the strength in numbers, and this is not a philosophy that Dallas is able to share. The Mavericks are a bit closer to “one is the loneliest number”, because their whole list-building philosophy depends on Luka Doncic being the best player on the court. If you’re not creating good shots, everything else is collapsing. And that was evident throughout the match.
It is no coincidence that when Doncic started this game 2 of 14 from the field, the Mavericks fell behind by 25 points. The Warriors threw aggressive doubles at him throughout the first quarter betting that if they could cut their shooters, Dallas had so little ball handling that they could generate a loss on the pass or return to position before the Mavericks hurt them. That bet was largely a success. It took Doncic more than half to finally settle the Golden State defense. He made eight of his last 14 shots, and that 25-point deficit fell to one digit, but it wasn’t enough. Yes, Spencer Dinwiddie had a stellar game, but much of that depended on his erratic history. The Warriors do not defend him like a star. He was, in essence, a role-playing player who spent a hot night.
If Dallas had another star to share part of Doncic’s load, the Mavericks might have been able to withstand Luka’s slow start long enough for his hot end to matter. Obviously, the Warriors had the kind of support structure for Curry. Boston has it for Jayson Tatum to Jaylen Brown. Until the Mavericks find it, they won’t win any titles. Michael Jordan did not win until Scottie Pippen was ready. LeBron James could not do it alone in Cleveland. The Mavericks have done well to surround Doncic with a wide variety of shooters and defenders. It won’t mean anything until Luka has a partner.
The return of Klay
Curry could have walked away with the Western Conference Finals MVP trophy, but that was Klay Thompson’s night. He led the Warriors with 32 points in eight triples. After the match, he joked that he should have been 10. Given his history, it seems small. We’re talking about someone who once made it 14 in a game, after all, and it was hot in a critical game. It was so good you hardly knew what it took to get here.
Forget about the two lost seasons. There were times in the last few months when it looked like Thompson would struggle to stay grounded in games like this. His defense has definitely fallen. From Valentine’s Day through March 22, it shot below 40 percent from the field. There was a very real fear that we might never see this version of Thompson. Even in this series, even though we’ve seen him release some important second parts, we didn’t feel like he had put together a front-end killer game like this.
It couldn’t have been more appropriate. Golden State’s bid to win the 2019 finals effectively ended when Thompson broke the LCA. Now, his journey to the end of 2022 comes thanks, perhaps, to the best game of Thompson’s postseason. After two years out, one of the greatest heat controls in NBA history will bring his talent to the biggest stage in the league and compete for his fourth ring.