Luka Doncic had a night to forget while the Splash Brothers were able to find their footing just in time to settle Game 1 at 112-87.
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The second to last run for the ultimate glory in basketball started for the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Just coming off after delivering one of the biggest upsets of all-time in postseason history, Luka Doncic and Co looked pretty cold from the start, but so did the Warriors.
The Splash Brothers just weren’t able to buy a bucket for the first 23 minutes in their backyard. They missed their first 7 three-point attempts and strangely, the free throw maestro of the league, Steph Curry, missed 3 free throws.
But with a minute left in the starting half, one team rose to the occasion like always. Klay Thompson found Curry for an open three in the corner, and the Chef finally delivered.
The 2x MVP started the 3rd quarter with that momentum and within 3 minutes of the second half, Curry drilled two threes. Luka Magic and his Mavs were still searching for their buckets but were trailing by 18 points by that time.
NBA Twitter compares Luka Doncic to Russell Westbrook after an inefficient game on both ends of the floor
While Dallas couldn’t convert more than 15% of their 20 three-point attempts in the first half, they also couldn’t do much defensively the whole game, Curry picking up a game-high 12 boards is proof of that. The Slovenian sensation on his worst offensive night (6/18 FG) also turned the ball 7 times and was a game low ‘-30’.
The Warriors held Luka Doncic to a playoff-low 16.7% on contested FGA.
Just.. wow. (via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/CUbHPcG4Ed
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 19, 2022
Four of those seven turnovers came in the 3rd quarter just when Curry got hot and the game slipped far away from the Mavs to catch up. So, NBA Twitter went after the 3x All-Star, forgetting what he had done to the Phoenix Suns just a couple of days back.
“Doncic FOUR turnovers in the quarter!” Welcome to Westbrook World, Luka. Lmao.
— Lyle Spencer (@LyleSpencer18) May 19, 2022
4 turnovers in a quarter? Is that Russell Westbrook?
— Stephen B Smith (@TMWSTW30X) May 19, 2022
Tonight Andrew Wiggins made Luka look like Baby HummingBird.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 19, 2022
He wasn’t the only Mavs player who couldn’t get going. Golden State had 7 players scoring in double figures, and Dallas had just three, none of whom shot over 38% from the field.
Mavs might not play this bad in the upcoming games, but they also have to keep in mind that neither would the Splash Brothers, who scored a combined 36 points.
At least each of them might score close to those many points next game onwards. They have done it for years, and they sure wouldn’t go down like CP3 and the Suns did.