Photo: Associated Press
DALLAS, Texas- Luka Doncic and Dorian Finney-Smith combined for 53 points as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Golden State Warriors 119-109 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
The game started out hotly contested, with Dallas holding a 28-24 lead after the first quarter.
The Mavericks were able to establish this lead with some sound outside shooting, draining seven threes early.
Two of those shots came from center Maxi Kleber, which was huge for Dallas.
After Kleber made just two of his previous 14 shots coming into this game, seeing him perform well had to have been a relief for Dallas.
From there, the Mavericks started to pull away in the next stage of the game.
Like their first half in Game 2, Dallas was able to build a strong lead, going into the half up 62-47.
This lead came despite a rough first half for Doncic, who shot just 4 for 14.
Coming out of the half, a water leak from the ceiling delayed the start of the third quarter.
Yet Dallas wouldn’t be deterred, quickly expanding their advantage to 20 points just three minutes into the second half.
By the time the fourth would begin, the Mavericks held a staggering 99-70 lead, thanks to continued excellence from three.
In the fourth quarter, Golden State made a spirited comeback.
With both teams briefly resting their key players, the Warriors would start to sneak back into the game, leading to the Mavericks putting their key guys back in.
Golden State would slowly put starters back in, but the bench did the heavy lifting and pulled the game within eight after being down 29.
Nonetheless, Dallas held on to win its first game of the series by double digits.
Dallas’ role players bounce back
Luka Doncic is a terrific player, but as the previous two games showed, he can’t do it all himself if Dallas is to defeat Golden State.
And while he nearly finished with a triple-double on Tuesday night, he was arguably not the main story for his squad.
The Mavericks as a team would drain 20 three-pointers on the night, and Doncic was responsible for just three of them.
Dorian Finney-Smith was integral to the victory, scoring 23 points and making four triples.
Elsewhere, Reggie Bullock bounced back from his 0-10 showing in Game 3 by making six shots, all of which were threes.
Even Spencer Dinwiddie, who struggled from the field once again, still made 40% of his threes in this contest.
Dallas was able to outpace Golden State from beyond to ensure its season wouldn’t end just yet. Whether or not they can recreate this showing, however, is still up in the air.
Warriors comeback falls short
The Warriors failed to eliminate Dallas on Tuesday, and that was partly because several of their top players didn’t perform like usual.
In the first half, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Jonathan Kuminga shot 33% from the field.
That sluggish start for those players was just the start of the Warriors rough shooting night.
They’d finish the game shooting 36% from three, but those numbers were boosted by the late-game bench comeback.
And while 36% isn’t atrocious, Dallas shot a noticeably better 46% from deep.
As mentioned previously, the Mavericks enjoyed a terrific night shooting the ball, and Golden State just couldn’t slow them down whatsoever.
Players like Poole and Kevon Looney found themselves exploited at times by Dallas’ superb perimeter play.
While the fourth-quarter stretch from the bench was remarkable, the early struggles were too much to overcome for Steve Kerr’s group.
Now, the Warriors still hold a 3-1 lead in the series and will return to the Chase Center on Thursday to host Game 5 at home.
However, a loss like this still stings the same no matter who you are.
