MIAMI – With their season on the line, the Dallas Mavericks lived to fight another day and avoided a sweep at the hands of powerhouse Golden State Warriors.
Luka Doncic led the charge with yet another all-around effort that saw him drop 30 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists in a runaway 119-109 Game 4 victory in front of a packed American Airlines Center on Tuesday night (Wednesday AM in Manila).
The Mavs cut their series deficit to 1-3 but they still face tall odds with Game 5 looming on Thursday (Friday AM Philippine time) at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Unlike the previous three games of this Western Conference Finals, wherehe had very little help, Doncic got plenty of reinforcement this time.
Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points while Reggie Bullock, who went 0-for-10 from the field in Game 3, came back to life in Game 4 with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from long distance.
“Everybody in that locker room felt like we had more basketball to play,” Finney-Smith told reporters. “WE just wanted to get the win any way. Feel like we came out desperate that first half.”
Steph Curry was the main man for the Warriors with 20 points while Jordan Poole came off the bench with 17. Klay Thompson only settled for 12 as Golden State struggled with just 41 of84 from the filed (48.8 percent) and 10 of 28 from 3-point range (35.7 percent).
“It was almost like an ego win (for Dallas). You come out and really have nothing to lose, So that confidence started early. And we really didn’t do nothing to slow it down and then that’s when the avalanche starts. You tip your hat to them,” Curry said.
The Dallas Mavericks are attempting to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since winning the championship in 2011 when Dirk Nowitzki was still the leader alongside Jason Kidd, now the team’s head coach.
The dynastic Warriors, meanwhile are trying to make it back to the championship round for the sixth time since 2015.
