Dallas Mavericks blown out by Warriors in ugly Game 1 loss, but it’s not time to panic
If anything was learned from the Dallas Mavericks’ second-round series against the Phoenix Suns, it’s to not draw any conclusions based off of a first game blowout loss on the road.
It means nothing.
So there is no reason for the Mavericks to panic after Wednesday’s 112-87 thrashing by the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Mavericks, who live and die by the 3-pointer, shot poorly as they were 11-of-48 from deep and they defended even worse.
“When you shoot 48 3’s you gotta make some and we just didn’t make them,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said.
This can be chalked up as simply one of those nights by a Dallas team that rallied from a 2-0 deficit on the road to come back and beat the Suns in a seven-game series.
Recent history is in the front of their mind so there no need to hang their heads.
With the unfazed Luka Doncic leading the way, that’s not going to happen anyway.
But a word of caution: the Warriors are not the Suns.
They have championship pedigree with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green remaining from three title teams in 2015, 2017 and 2018. They also don’t have a history of choking in big moments or coughing up 2-0 series leads.
Curry led seven Warriors in double figures with 21 points. Andrew Wiggins, who had the primary job of guarding Doncic, had 19 and Jordan Poole added 19.
And the Warriors certainly learned from the Suns series on how to slow to defend the Mavs with their ability to extend their defense and switch out size to help contain Doncic, who was held to 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting after coming in as the leading scorer in the playoffs with 31.5 points per game.
Doncic had more turnovers (7) than field goals made (6) for the first time in his 24-game playoff career. They were physical with him. They switched defenders on him.
Doncic, who suffered a nasty scar on his face from a scratch from Wiggins that wasn’t called a foul, made no excuses.
“I gotta be better, that’s not me,” Doncic said. “I gotta be better for the whole group.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr praised Wiggins for the job he did vs. Doncic in Game 1. But he knows this series is far from over.
“One game we did an excellent job defensively,” Kerr said. “But we are under no illusion that we’ve figured anything out.”
What’s also true is the shots just weren’t falling for the Mavs, who had made more 3-pointers than any team in the playoffs coming into game
The shooting was ugly early and the often. The Mavs attempted a whopping 19 first-quarter 3-pointers, making just 3, fueling a 28-18 deficit.
It was a miracle that Dallas was able to cut it deficit to three points in the second quarter but it was 54-45 at halftime and Golden State simply ran away in the third quarter with a 10-2 opening spurt.
The Mavs were 7 of 32 from 3-point land when they down 73-54 with little more than five minutes to go in the third.
The benches would empty midway through the fourth quarter as the Golden State simply had their way with Dallas on both ends of the court.
The Mavs finished the game 31-for-86, just 36 percent from the field. Spencer Dinwiddie was the only player who had a solid game with 17 points off the bench.
“I think the whole team, we didn’t shoot the ball great,” Doncic said. “We were 22% from three. I think we have got to attack the paint more. We settled for threes a lot, so we’ve got to attack the paint more.”
“We can do things to be better. In the first half we had great looks, but couldn’t make them.”
But there is no loss of confidence or resolve. And there shouldn’t be.
The Mavs dropped the first game of their first two series and rallied to win them both.
“We’ve always found a way to answer,” Kidd said.
Doncic said everyone in the Dallas locker room believes they can beat the Warrior. No one is panicking after one loss.
“Like I said in the Phoenix series, we’re going to believe,” Doncic said. “So the confidence is the same. It’s tough to win every game, so some you’re going to lose. But the confidence stays the same.”
“It’s one game that’s what playoffs is about, if you lose by 1 or lose by 40, it’s a loss. We believe, somebody got to get to 4 first, it’s going to be a good series.”
The series is just getting started. But unlike against the Suns, who thought they had the makings of a champion, the Mavs must overcome a Warriors team that knows what it means to a champion and on the verge of getting its Mojo back.
While Golden State appeared to be in peak form on Thursday, Dallas clearly didn’t have its best performance in the series opener.
They need to be better in Game 2 is Friday night at 8 p.m. at the Chase Center.
They must be better and find a way to win.
Even though they have overcome it before, no one wants to back to Dallas for Game 3 at American Airlines Center down 0-2.
The Warriors ain’t the Suns.
They don’t choke.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 10:25 PM.
