The start of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals for the Golden State Warriors couldn’t have been worse. The Dallas Mavericks jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, and they were just getting started.
Luka Dončić, controlled so impressively in Game 1, looked like a college star returning home to play his high school team for the summer. He got where he wanted on the floor and made it look easy, dropping 18 points in the fourth.
Meanwhile, the Warriors were as sloppy as could be. They flipped the ball six times, with Draymond Green accounting for two of them. Steph Curry had a couple of fouls.
Even with a run late in the quarter, the Warriors still trailed by seven points entering the second.
And then it only got worse. They fell behind by 13 almost immediately. At the seven-minute mark they trailed by 19. When Curry returned, he immediately drew his third foul on a free kick.
Perhaps worst of all, it turned into one of the ugliest basketball rooms you’ll ever see. The whistle blew every few seconds. Green hit a technical foul and was lucky not to get a second. Damion Lee and Davis Bertāns played an accidental game of Twister, which led to a review and silly technical doubles. Dorian Finney-Smith got a technician. There was a replay to check for a flagrant foul. The referees lost control of the game.
It was borderline unseeable.
Curry put on a show to end the fourth, but the Warriors were still down 14 at the half, and Dallas had shot 15 of 27 from beyond the arc.
But the third-quarter Warriors are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and they rarely disappoint.
They fell apart, but midway through the third, Green drew his fifth foul with the Warriors trailing by 11 points. It seemed like a big hit.
But Kevon Looney didn’t let it go. Looney had the game of his life, scoring a career-high 21 points with 12 rebounds and his usual spectacular defense. With Looney serving as an anchor at both ends of the floor, the Warriors began to find change, with Curry and Jordan Poole going down bucket after bucket.
When the third-quarter buzzer sounded, the deficit had been reduced to a single point.
It only took one possession in the fourth quarter for the Warriors to take their first lead of the night, and once they had it, they ran with it. Even with Curry, Green and Klay Thompson together on the bench, the lead grew, thanks to some decisive buckets from Poole and Andrew Wiggins, and continued excellence from Looney.
Eventually the stars returned, and while Green fouled out, Curry pounded out vicious daggers that deflated the entire Mavericks bench.
The 19-point deficit became a distant memory, and the Warriors won 126-117 to take a 2-0 series lead.
10 less, six to go.
Curry finished with 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting, and Poole had 23 on 7-of-10. Dallas had no answer for those two, or Looney, and that was enough to top a 42-point night by Dončić and a 31-point night by Jalen Brunson points.
And then the hugs and the game ball Looney had to take away, for an unforgettable game from the always underrated center.
But things are not over yet. The Mavericks trailed the Phoenix Suns 2-0 in the semifinals and came back to win that series. There is much work to be done.
Game 3 takes place on Sunday night, as the Dubs look to move one step closer to their sixth NBA Finals appearance in eight years.
Reference-www.goldenstateofmind.com