Mavericks’ catchup plan shredded by relentless Warriors

As usual, it all happens rather quickly when the Golden State Warriors are the opponent.

The Dallas Mavericks found that out the hard way.

Even while short-handed, the Mavs were within one point of the Warriors in the third quarter. But the defending NBA champion suddenly caught fire and put a blitz package on the Mavs en route to erupting for a 127-107 triumph before a sellout crowd of 19,596 at Oracle Arena.

With the loss, the Mavs dropped to 26-22 overall as they finished this road trip with a 1-2 record.

It was a night where the Mavs kept chasing the Warriors until they narrowed a 14-point deficit to 65-64 with 7:35 left in the third period. From there, it was as if the Warriors huddled up and came out angry that a Mavs squad that was playing without superstar Dirk Nowitzki — he rested after playing Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers — had the audacity to even still be in the game.

With the light bulb brighter than ever, the Warriors used a series of 3-pointers, layups and transition baskets to outscore the Mavs 30-13 over the final 7:09 of the third period and take a 95-77 lead into the final quarter.

“Any other night it’s fun to watch them play as a basketball fan just to watch Steph [Curry]) and Klay [Thompson]) go nuts,” Mavs forward Chandler Parsons said. “But when you’re playing against it, it’s annoying, man, it’s frustrating.

“You play so hard, you play good defense for 20 seconds and then they slip and get a layup, or you fall asleep for a second and they hit a three.”

Yep, that about sizes up what transpired Wednesday. The Mavs would play lockdown defense for 20 seconds of the 24-second shot clock, and the Warriors would find a way to bury the last four seconds.

“I thought we battled them hard,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “They got off to a very fast start and we circled the wagons and fought back.

“We were very close a lot of the game and then when it came down to it, as great as their outside shooting is, they hit us with too many layups on the inside on cuts and other things. So it’s disappointing to lose, but there are some things we can build on.”

In showing they are the best team in the NBA, the Warriors ran their overall record to a gaudy 42-4 and their home record to 22-0. In fact, the Warriors have won an amazing 40 straight home games dating back to exactly a year ago Wednesday.

The last time Golden State lost a home game was Jan. 27, 2015 — 113-111 in overtime to the Chicago Bulls.

“They’re a great team,” said J.J. Barea, who scored 14 points and handed out five assists. “They move the ball, they play as a team, and they find whoever’s hot.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”

Thompson led the Warriors with a season-high 45 points, with 26 of those coming in the first half when Golden State led 56-48. Thompson was 14-of-20 from the field, including 7-of-12 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Curry had an off-night, finishing with just 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting. But he did pick up nine assists and three steals, and the Warriors overall shot 58 percent from the field and distributed 33 assists.

In the 30-13 run, Curry started it with back-to-back 3-pointers, Draymond Green had a pair of 3-pointers and Brandon Rush ended the highlight reel with a trey.

“They do some things that create errors for the opponent and they’re a great passing and cutting team,’’ Carlisle said. “And the threat of outside shooting makes it so you’ve got to be out, which opens up some of the cuts. I’m disappointed, but not dismayed. I thought the effort was really good. Our guys were into it all night and we just came up a little short.’’

With Thompson firing away, the Warriors rolled out to a 20-6 lead early on. The Mavs, who shot 50.6 percent from the field, just kept being a tad late on defense.

“They make you pay for every little mistake you make,’’ said Parsons, who scored 23 points. “They have so many good shooters and they have so many good cutters and movers.

“You almost got to pick your poison with them.’’

The “poison’’ the Mavs picked didn’t work out too well.

“We battled and we hung in there and made it a game for a little bit,’’ Parsons said. “But if you’re a second late on the help side, if you don’t rotate early enough, if you don’t get back in transition, then they’re going to kill you.’

Actually, the Warriors were already mad that their worst loss of the season came at the hands of the Mavs. That happened on Dec. 30 when the Warriors lost in Dallas 114-91 on a night when Curry sat out with a leg injury.

“They’re a good team,’’ said Wesley Matthews, who scored nine points. “We missed a couple of shots, they got in transition, they made their threes and that was the run.’’

A run that turned into a 20-point win for the Warriors.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 1:52 AM with the headline "Mavericks’ catchup plan shredded by relentless Warriors."