The Dallas Mavericks lost 137-131 to the Golden State Warriors in an overtime thriller Monday night in Dallas. Cooper Flagg led all scorers with 32 points but a balanced Warriors attack and sloppy Mavericks miscues prevented the Mavericks from a feel-good win.
Dallas nearly blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Golden State 42-29 and taking a 15-point lead at one point. After halftime it was all Warriors, and a frantic comeback late in the fourth left Dallas with a chance to win on the final possession, only for Naji Marshall to miss a wide-open potential game-winning three. In overtime it was all Warriors.
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Here are the numbers to know.
15: Combined turnovers for Cooper Flagg, Naji Marshall
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd continues to experiment with Cooper Flagg at point, and yet again the Mavericks ball handling woes bit them. Dallas actually shot the ball when when they got up a shot, the problem was they didn’t get up a shot enough — the team had 23 turnovers, with Flagg and Marshall responsible for 15 of them, Marshall having eight, Flagg having seven.
Those two were the perimeter players that touched the ball the most, and for them to cough the ball up so frequently really stalled the Mavericks out in the third quarter, which ignited the Warriors rally. Kidd throwing Flagg into the deep end of the pool, and it was frankly uncomfortable to watch Flagg sink a bit in the second half, when the Warriors full-court pressure forced multiple turnovers.
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It’s a shame because Flagg did such a good job scoring, but the ball control was a major issue.
23-8: Warriors 2nd chance points advantage
Dallas shot nearly 60 percent from the field and 55 percent from three on 36 three point attempts. How did they lose? Well besides turnovers, the Mavericks gave up 17 offensive rebounds, good for 23 second-chance points from the Warriors.
No one on the Mavericks did well on the boards. Starting center Daniel Gafford only had five defensive rebounds in 32 minutes. Mavericks forwards PJ Washington and Cooper Flagg each had three defensive boards. So that’s 11 combined defensive rebounds from the Mavericks starting front court, so to speak (even if Flagg is running point). That’s just not good enough, and it cost Dallas.
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8: Warriors in double digits
The Warriors are a very unique team, in which their offense is truly more than the sum of its parts — lots of cutting, lots of off-ball action, less isolations and direct pick and roll. It’s a fun system, tailored made to take advantage of Steph Curry’s almost limitless on-floor gravity off the ball. Even without Curry, like the Warriors were tonight, it can be impressive.
Golden State had eight players with 10 or more points, led by Moses Moody with 23 points. The one that jumped out the most, however, was Gary Payton II and his 17 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting. Payton seemed to make the right play at the right time throughout the second half, including a giant corner three late in the game, along with two steals.
Payton is fun to watch when being utilized well — he was basically rim-running as a guard, and it threw the Mavericks offense off on multiple occasions.