The Golden State Warriors are 4 years away from their last name in the NBA and still look unbeatable.
While the Warriors controlled a 19-point comeback over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their Western Conference Finals series, a few things are very transparent: The Mavericks aren’t going to beat the Warriors in this series and Golden State is the clear favorite to win the 2022 NBA Finals.
The Warriors handed the Mavericks an overwhelming 126-117 loss despite Luka Doncic’s 42 points, five rebounds and 8 assists. ball losses on 6 of 18 shots from the box: there is no such argument here.
Golden State just beat Dallas because it has several players who can contribute on the offensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are forced to rely too heavily on a solo display led by Doncic and a cast of role-players who alone can’t fit into the Warriors’ experienced supporting cast.
In a game in which Doncic gave the Warriors their maximum productive shot on the road, it still wasn’t enough as six other Golden State players scored in double digits. Looney, who hadn’t scored as many points in a bachelor game since his first season at UCLA in 2014-15.
Although the Mavericks outscored the Warriors in their own game (21 3 issues from the home team’s 14 trees), Golden State adjusted and controlled to use Dallas’ overreliance on the long ball to punish them in the paint.
The Warriors, scored during Looney’s career night, changed 14 of 16 shots at the rim (87. 5%), completing with 62 shots in the paint. Meanwhile, the Mavericks took just 30 shots in the paint while shooting forty-five 3-pointers at the Warriors. ‘ 28 3-point attempts.
Game 2 followed a troubling functionality through the Mavericks in Game 1 in which they made just 11 of 48 three-point attempts (22. 9%). While the Warriors weren’t much bigger (1 of 29 beyond the arc, 34. 4%), they showed the ability to adapt when shots didn’t fall.
The Mavericks have yet to prove they can do that.
Head coach Jason Kidd expressed his displeasure with the Mavericks’ variety of shots after their loss in the first game. He didn’t hold back after Dallas’ resolve to rely too much on the 3 balls in Game 2.
“When you go 2 by thirteen and you depend on 3, you can die through 3,” Kidd said after Game 2. “And we died in the third quarter shooting 3 goals and locating two. “
Kidd went on to criticize his team’s performance, saying the Mavericks play defense when they play offense, but don’t play defensively when shots don’t fall.
“We play defensively when we play offense, and we don’t play defensively when we can’t score,” Kidd said. “It’s all we want at this time of year. “
In an ironic twist, the Warriors managed to defeat the Mavericks with the exact opposite of the three-point revolution they had started a decade earlier: dominance in the paint.
Aside from the fact that the Warriors score things as well as the Mavericks for brick shots, Golden State’s merit in terms of play has become very apparent in this case.
“There’s one explanation why our team has won championships, and that is we have players who are stars and players who are fearless and who play and perform under pressure,” coach Kerr said after the game. “But Steph in particular, the guy is one of the all-time wonder players. That’s what the greats do. “
Steph Curry was the leader, as he has been, in this one, scoring 32 problems, grabbing 8 rebounds and delivering five assists. He was supported by Jordan Poole’s 23 problems from the bench, Andrew Wiggins’ 16 problems and Klay Thompson’s 15 points. contribution.
It’s the Warriors’ 12th win in the playoffs, as they fell behind in at least 15 problems in the Kerr era. No other team has recorded so many such returns in the last 25 seasons.
The Warriors would possibly have been at the climax for the past two seasons as injuries have decimated the team. However, with Thompson after all back after a three-year hiatus and now that young players like Poole and Looney have become quality players. , Golden State is unstoppable.
While the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are brutalizing in a series that may very well last seven games, the Warriors may very well finish their own series in one fell swoop.
Simply put, rarely is there a single team left in the playoffs that has so many offensive weapons (Curry, Thompson, Poole, and Wiggins) capable of taking a game. Perhaps most importantly, there is rarely a single team left. in the playoffs that has the playoff pedigree that the Warriors have.
This is a team that won 3 titles and made five consecutive appearances in the final between 2015 and 2019. And now they’re back.
“For us, the experience, just the chemistry, obviously this organization is another, but we have that attitude, the spirit that we feel like we’ll never get out of it,” Curry said after the Warriors’ win. “That confidence then runs in the game, and you can feel the momentum. It’s more focused on what we’re doing. When we have those opportunities to dig the dagger or make 3 stops in a row, those are the times when we feel the right power. going towards us. “
This confidence and joy makes this current incarnation of the Warriors look suspiciously like the one we saw at the end of the last decade.
You’re back, folks.