Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 127 at Golden State Warriors 117
The Dallas Mavericks entered Oracle Arena with the most road wins in the Western Conference. They left with one more notch in the win column.
The Mavericks were not shying away from calling their third matchup with the Golden State Warriors a "must-win" game, and down the stretch they played as if it truly was a necessity. Though it didn't look to be Dallas' night for the better part of three quarters, the Mavericks claimed a 127-117 victory by overcoming a double digit deficit with a dominate fourth quarter en route to their 32nd win of the season.
"Golden State is a difficult team in here. They score. They have great skill players. They shot the three, they stretch you out and it can get frustrating and it can deflate you a little bit. But that never happened tonight. We kept battling and we kept hanging in," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of the win.
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Mavs were in desperate need of a win, after dropping four of their previous five games. That lone win was a 110-101 home victory over the Warriors last Wednesday, as the Mavericks overcame a 46-point night from Monta Ellis. This time around the Mavs were looking to give Ellis their full attention. More importantly, Dallas needed a win on the front end of a back-to-back before concluding play heading into the All-Star break.
"It's been a tough 10-day stretch. We've had struggles, but it's a long year and this was a bit of a gut-check for us. It was a game we desperately needed, and we fought hard for it. We fought like it was a decisive game in a playoff series to get it," the coach added.
"We needed this a lot," big man Drew Gooden said of the win. "We ain't been playing Dallas Mavericks basketball as of late."
With center Erick Dampier once again inactive due to a left knee effusion, Carlisle began the game with Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Eduardo Najera. The same unit started the game in Dallas' previous win over the Warriors. But with the Mavericks missing on their first six shots of the night, the Dallas squad quickly trailed 12-3 out of the gates. After falling behind by as much as 14 in the opening quarter, the Mavericks rallied with stifling defense, Terry's quick-trigger offense and an ability to get to the foul line. J.J. Barea's three to close the period cut Dallas' deficit to 34-29 at the end of one. Ellis' 15 first quarter points paced the Warriors to the early advantage.
Just 30 seconds into the second quarter, Nowitzki headed to the bench with his third foul. Without their go-to scorer on the court, the Mavericks' offense was severely hampered and the turnovers mounted. Meanwhile, the Warriors sped up the tempo, taking their lead back to double digits. Dallas then relied on the play of its bench in the second stanza, as Josh Howard and Gooden came on strong with scores at the rim. Terry's 5-0 personal run then cut the deficit to 52-47 just under the midway point of the quarter. He was quickly answered by back-to-back scores from rookie Stephen Curry and Ellis, as the Golden State backcourt mates continued to shoot lights-out. But Ellis' foul on Terry's 3-point attempt with just .6 seconds on the game clock, and Terry's subsequent 2-for-3 at the charity stripe, trimmed the Warriors' lead to 70-61 heading into the halftime intermission.
"We have to find a way to be better in the first half," Nowitzki said. "Today we gave up a 70-point half, and that's just not going to be good enough."
Ellis appeared headed for another big night, pouring in 22 points to lead all scorers at the half. Terry kept the Mavericks close with his 19 first half points, as both teams shot over 56 percent in the first 24 minutes of play. Despite shooting 12 less shot attempts, the Mavericks were able to hang around by connecting on 19-of-23 at the foul line. Still, the Mavericks wanted more from their defense.
"This is a hard game to judge your defense on because of the way they play," Terry said. "The best thing you can do is put pressure on them and don't settle. If they beat you and out-hustle you, they are going to win the game."
Dallas attempted to put pressure on the Golden State squad to began the second half by playing "small ball," with Nowitzki moving to the center spot while Howard joined Kidd, Terry and Marion on the court. But the Warriors' rugged style of play continued to prevail on the scoreboard. After the Warriors' defense surrounded Nowitzki during his limited time on the floor in the first half, the 7-footer nailed his first field goal of the night at the 7:09-mark of the third quarter. Nowitzki continued to keep his team in contention, but Anthony Morrow's barrage of 3-point shots kept the Mavericks at bay. Despite outscoring the Warriors 29-28 and holding Ellis to just a single point in the third, the Mavericks headed into the final quarter down 98-90.
"The third quarter was a tough quarter, but we won it by a point. Our guys just stuck with it," Carlisle said. "They really wanted to win this game and put an awful lot of effort and collective will into it."
The Dallas defense came alive in the fourth quarter, while the offense ran in transition at the other end. The result was an 11-2 run, cutting the deficit to 102-101 on Terry's 3-pointer with 7:51 remaining. Howard then took over the Mavericks' scoring before Nowitzki put Dallas in front for the first time all night, 108-106, with a three-point play. After briefly losing the lead and later regaining their advantage, the Mavericks were the ones pushing the tempo in the ladder stage of the fourth. Dallas capitalized off of Golden State's miscues, turning giveaways into points at the other end. Warrior fans then held their collective breath when Ellis went down hard after scoring on a driving layup with 3:48 remaining. Once the sharpshooter was helped to the sidelines, the Mavericks went back to work, sprinting out to a double digit lead. Kidd's three with 1:18 remaining iced the game and gave the Mavs a 125-115 advantage. The Mavs then put the finishing touches on the win.
"We gave up 70 points in the first half, and the way we came back speaks volumes to the leadership of this team," Terry said of the win. "We are going to continue to get better and this is another step in the right direction."
Dallas saved its best for last, outscoring Golden State 37-19 in the fourth quarter.
"I thought in the fourth quarter we played together," Nowitzki said. "We fought, got some stops finally and that was great."
With the win, the Mavericks take a 2-1 season series lead. Dallas finished the night out-shooting Golden State 52 percent to 49 percent. A 41-for-46 night at the foul line certainly helped the Mavericks' cause, attempting 17 more shots from the line than the Warriors hoisted up. The Mavericks' 12-of-22 shooting from the 3-point line even outdid the Warriors' 8-for-20 from behind the arch.
But the key to the game was the play of the Dallas bench, in particular the scoring of Howard and Gooden. The Mavericks' reserves outscored their Warriors counterparts 54-14.
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Picking up the slack for a marginal night from Nowitzki, the Mavericks received season-high scoring nights from Terry (36), Howard (25) and Gooden (24). Gooden posted a double-double off the bench, grabbing 10 rebounds in his 41 minutes in a reserve role. Nowitzki finished with 15 points (13 in the second half), while Kidd recorded his 15th double-double of the season, scoring 17 and dishing out 12 assists.
"Drew gave us a lot of energy off the bench, so he was fantastic. JET (Terry) was outstanding all night long. Josh was fun to watch, attacking and getting to the line. Kidd was open, he was making shots. So, it was a great team effort," Nowitzki said.
Morrow led the Warriors with his 33-point night. After his monster first half, Ellis was held to just five points the remainder of the way, finishing with 27 on the night. Curry added 25 of his own.
Now, on the second night of a back-to-back, the Mavericks finish up play before the All-Star break with a trip to Denver to square off with the Nuggets. The Mavericks knocked off the team that ended Dallas' 2008-09 season with a 104-96 road win on Dec. 27, in the first meeting between the two squads. The Mavericks-Nuggets matchup will air locally Tuesday night on KTXA and KTXA HD at 8 p.m. CT.
"(Winning in Denver for a second time) is going to be tough, but we can do it," Gooden said. "We already won once there...We can do it."
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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