The Golden State Warriors clinched an important away win in Dallas, clearly improving their playoff chances. In the end, however, a misunderstanding on the part of the referees became a decisive factor in the game.
Dallas Mavericks (36-37) – Golden State Warriors (38-36) 125:127 (BOXSCORE)
The Golden State Warriors won their second straight away game after eleven straight defeats and their ninth overall this season, taking a major step toward direct playoff qualification. The Mavericks, on the other hand, fell further behind after a frenetic second aid in the West.
In the end, two successful free throws from Kevon Looney made the difference, but that has a stale aftertaste, because the two-point difference can be attributed to a curious scene before the end of the third quarter.
Shortly before a timeout, the Warriors had lost the ball under the opposing basket, which the referee on the side also indicated. After the break, however, the ref had changed his mind and conceded the ball to the Warriors. However, the Mavs didn’t even notice that and all oriented themselves in the opposing half. The Warriors threw in the ball from the baseline and had a simple basket by Looney unopposed.
Mavs owner Cuban criticizes referees for mistakes
After the end of the game, Mavs owner Mark Cuban commented on the situation and explained on Twitter: “The ref decided on Mavs ball. The stadium announcer also announced it. Then there was a timeout. During the timeout the ref changed the call but didn’t tell us that. Then when they saw that we lined up like it was our ball, he just gave the ball to the Warriors. He never said a word to us. They got an easy basketball. Crazy that that would matter in a game that was only two points apart. It was probably the worst non- Calling mistakes by umpires in NBA history. They should have just told us something and didn’t.”
With Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki watching, the Mavs got off to a seemingly better start, but the visitors struck back with a few dominant periods in the first half. Superstar Steph Curry himself only scored his first points in the first quarter with 3:33 minutes on the clock in the first shot and thus crowned a 7:0 run by the Dubs, which shortened it to 21:22.
Golden State turned the game around for the first time with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of the second quarter. The hosts then took over again, with Luka Doncic making his comeback after a five-game break and already having 9 assists (18 PTS) at the break. Maxi Kleber also started in place of Kyrie Irving with a foot injury but wasn’t a big factor in 29 minutes (4 PTS, -12 +/-).
The fact that the Warriors had accumulated six fouls in the middle of the quarter and were in the bonus was only used very insufficiently by the Mavs afterwards.
Curry and green make the difference at the end
That also helped the guests to go into half-time with a 2-point lead. About 3 seconds before the buzzer, Curry found his way to the basket a completely open Donte DiVincenzo, who pocketed his second three of the game. Then Doncic only hit the ring from his own half.
The third quarter then developed into a wild exchange of blows with some forced throws and turnovers. The referee miscommunication at the end was the culmination of this phase of the game.
In the fourth quarter, both teams went for 8-0 runs one after the other, so that the final score was 113:113. Then it was Draymond Green and Steph Curry who had the better nerves in the end and decided the game for Golden State.
Doncic was the game’s top scorer (30 PTS) on his return and had his 41st 30-point game of the season, surpassing Mark Aguirre (1983-84) for the most in a season in franchise history .
