Mavs Film Room: How Dallas Pulled Off Epic ‘Culture’ Win Over Warriors
The Dallas Mavericks trailed the Golden State Warriors 73-52 at the 8:25 mark of the third quarter, but an incredible fourth-quarter comeback from the Mavs resulted in a 107-101 victory.
How did the Mavericks pull off such an incredible victory? Spencer Dinwiddie, who led the Mavericks with 10 points in the final frame, offered some key insight into how it happened — mentioning how cutting it to single digits changed the psychology behind their efforts.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
“As great as (the Warriors) are with runs, sometimes they do give them up,” Dinwiddie said. “Like coach Kidd said, we wanted to continue to have fight. Other than that, I think the big thing is when we probably cut it to single digits.
“I think psychologically when you look at it and you see (a) nine (point deficit) instead of like 13 – even though that’s a four-point swing – you’re still like, “Ok, we’re right here, we’re a couple of shots in it.”
The Mavericks had experienced some real difficulty running their regular half-court offense in the opening half — often resulting in turnovers or tough shots. Golden State made it a point to not give Doncic switches that he sought and wanted him to get downhill and make it challenging when he got deep on the drive.
The Warriors experienced success by taking away the pass to Dwight Powell in pick-and-roll situations while also staying home on shooters, particularly in the weak-side corner. Golden State was essentially forcing Doncic to be a scoring threat after facing some stunts from a help defender one pass away with Andrew Wiggins going over the screen.
“We all know he’s great,” Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith said of Doncic. “I felt like they had a great game plan. Early in the game they weren’t leaving the corners and he kept trying to find us, but they weren’t leaving the corners.
“But I feel like in that fourth quarter he took some shots instead of trying to find guys. So you can’t really be mad when he’s turning it over trying to find you.”
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
With there being too much complication operating out of the two-man game with Doncic and Powell, the Mavericks adjusted. Maxi Kleber brought clunkiness to the offense by being involved directly, too, so ultimately, Dallas deployed Finney-Smith at the five.
The Warriors attempted to hide Steph Curry on defense by having him matchup on Finney-Smith at times. When the Mavericks used Finney-Smith as a ball screener, Golden State would show and recover to prevent the switch that Doncic wanted. Dallas used this to their advantage late.
''I think it's actually good to go through and feel it because this is what it feels like in the playoffs,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ''This is what it feels like when you're playing a really good team, the game's never over.''
Doncic managed to turn his performance around significantly. In the first half, he was limited to 12 points and one assist with six turnovers and shooting just 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) from the floor with two of those makes coming from beyond the arc.
Throughout the second half of this game, Doncic still was limited to just one assist, but he looked to shoulder more scoring responsibility with 22 points. His efficiency was much improved as he went 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the floor and 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) on free throws within this stretch.
Going away from Powell in this particular matchup enabled the Mavericks to open the floor up for Doncic to attack favorable matchups. Doncic no longer was focused on making plays for his teammates, he knew he had to be aggressive using the spacing.
Perhaps most intriguing of all, in general, was the impact Dinwiddie provided throughout the game. He finished the game with an impressive 24 points (10 in the fourth quarter), four rebounds, and five assists. Between getting to step back jumpers and knocking down the game-sealing catch-and-shoot three, he made a lot of dynamic plays.
Dinwiddie offered some big shot making at times, but most importantly, he was another option the Mavericks could turn to in order to get to the rim. Whether it was in transition, using a ball screen, or drawing a switch to exploit, he did a little bit of everything and did so when needed most.
Getting creative with lineup combinations paid off. The Mavericks outscored the Warriors by 19 points in the second half when Finney-Smith was on the floor without either Powell or Kleber in the lineup. When factoring in for just the time without Powell, Dallas outscored the Warriors by 25 points.
One factor to take into consideration, though, Draymond Green will be the player on the court in place of Nemanja Bjelica if and when the Warriors are fully healthy. Klay Thompson wasn't available either, and his impact will be a real boost in the wing defense department as well.
