Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins sink the Mavs!

In front of their fans, the Mavs remain glued to the starting blocks. Their rhythm clashes with the solid defense of Golden State, they miss their first seven attempts by far, and see the Warriors take a 12-point lead on a 3-pointer from Stephen Curry (19-7). Due to numerous clumsiness and two shots from ten meters forced by its leader, Golden State misses several opportunities to take off. On the contrary, it was two 3-pointers from Spencer Dinwiddie then Luka Doncic at the buzzer that kept Dallas in ambush (25-22).

As the Warriors continue to make bad decisions on offense, Spencer Dinwiddie insists on attacking the key to provide rhythmic shots for his teammates. Five points from Jalen Brunson give them their first advantage of the match. Four stray balls from Golden State and a 2/11 shot from Golden State in this second period also allow Dallas to take an eight-point lead (39-31).

The Mavs lead reached nine units before melting like snow in the sun once the Warriors decided to attack the circle. They chained a dunk, a lay-up, and two award-winning shots from Stephen Curry to inflict a 10-0 on their opponent, and return to the locker room in front of the score (48-47).

As at the start of the match, Steve Kerr’s men returned to the field with application. Their zone defense continues to keep the Mavs without rhythm in attack and the offensive rebounds of Kevon Looney and Draymond Green on the other side allow the “Splash Brothers” to increase the gap to +11 (67-56)! A 3-pointer from Stephen Curry increases the gap to +14 but fortunately Spencer Dinwiddie is there to limit the damage before a very important last quarter for the Texans (78-68).

Luka Doncic then goes on the offensive. He scores nine points in three minutes but two award-winning shots from Klay Thompson and one from Jordan Poole keep the Mavs at bay.

Andrew Wiggins then decides to air-condition the American Airlines Arena by posterizing Luka Doncic with incredible violence. He continues with a tap dunk and the Warriors go to +12 with six minutes to play (95-83). Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie then launch an 11-2 to come back to -5 with 75 seconds to play but by trapping Stephen Curry, they give the match point to Jordan Poole. The latter does not tremble and his award-winning shot gives the Warriors a decisive advantage in this series.

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

– The attack of the racket, guarantee of success of the two attacks. After losing the inside battle 62-30 in Game 2. The Mavs focused on attacking the circle in the first half. Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson do their job to score from the circle and get free throws. Unfortunately for them, they simply lack the address by far to make a rotating Warriors defense pay. Stephen Curry’s teammates were also aggressive towards the racquet. That’s how they took control of the game. It was after stopping that their attack came to a standstill. And it was by going back inside that they were able to pass before the break.

– The Mavs abandoned by their address. We were talking about it after Game 2, the bet attempted by Dallas by shooting as many 3-pointers is risky. That night, they continued to take over 65% of their shots from distance but they were never able to adjust their sights. While they got plenty of open shots, the Mavs never found their groove. The Warriors continued to alternate between individual defense, 3-2 zone, and box on Luka Doncic, while increasing their efforts to contest as many shots as possible. Result: Dallas was 6/25 from 3-pointers at the break, 9/34 after three quarters, and finished the game at 13/45. A clumsiness that counts double given their gaming identity.

– The offensive rebound, fatal weapon of Golden State. Already dominating in this sector against Memphis, the Warriors continued their momentum during this conference final. Tonight, they grabbed 14 more rebounds than Dallas, and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, including 10 for the Wiggins-Looney duo. They scored 18 points on second chances, compared to just 4 at the Mavs, and that was the difference. This domination allowed them to compensate for their 13 lost balls. They also finished the game with 6 shots more than their opponent.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅Stephen Curry. The double MVP continues his tour de force in this series. He was instrumental at the start of the game, then in the third quarter to allow the Warriors to make the difference. He finished with 31 points, 50% success rate, and 11 assists.

✅Andrew Wiggins. The former Wolf continues to impress in these playoffs. While he does a pretty good job defensively against Luka Doncic, he is also aggressive in attack to punish the Mavs, and decisive on the rebound. He finished with 27 points, his best points in a playoff game, and 11 rebounds!

✅ Luka Doncic. The Slovenian again reached the 40 point mark. He also finished top rebounder (11) on his team but was too lonely to hope to win this game. He was also once again targeted on defense by Golden State’s moving offense.

✅ Spencer Dinwiddie – Jalen Brunson. Luka Doncic’s lieutenants responded with 46 points between them at 14 out of 25 on shots.

✅ ⛔ Klay Thompson – Jordan Poole. The two shooters lacked success in the first half before setting the sights at the best time. They scored 12 of their 29 points on four award-winning shots in the last quarter. Three at the start of the period with Stephen Curry on the bench, and one from Jordan Poole with a minute to play which killed the last hopes of the Mavs.

⛔ Reggie Bullock – Maxi Kleber – Dorian Finney-Smith – Davis Bertans. All four Dallas shooters came through tonight. They finished the game 2 of 19 from 3-pointers and this clumsiness made it impossible for their team.

THE FOLLOWING

Game 4 Tuesday night into Wednesday in Dallas.