What we learned as Warriors blow out Mavs to grab third straight win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Never ever wake up a sleeping giant. Even at Steph Curry’s stature, the saying easily applies to the Warriors superstar.
Remember when Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington mocked Curry’s signature “night night” celebration not once but twice earlier this season? Curry found his revenge Sunday right in Washington’s face, putting both hands to the side of face. There were still two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter when the crazy competitor let Washington hear all about it.
Curry and the Warriors wound up dismantling Dallas in front of a roaring Chase Center crowd, 126-102. Without needing to play a second of the fourth quarter, Curry scored 30 points in 29 minutes. He cooked the Mavs’ defense in the third quarter to the tune of 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 2 of 4 from deep, adding four assists and three rebounds.
The Jimmy Butler effect can’t be more real, and Warriors fans finally felt it in person. Butler was a plus-28 in his home debut, scoring 18 points with four rebounds and five assists, going a perfect 8 of 8 on free throws.
But Curry and Butler weren’t alone. All five Warriors starters scored in double figures. Brandin Podziemski deserves all the praise coming his way. Podziemski grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds as he also scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, and he was a game-high plus-30 in 30 minutes.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors winning three straight games for the first time since Nov. 15, 2024.
Home Cooking
As if Sunday already wasn’t jam-packed enough with Andre Iguodala’s jersey retirement and another visit to Chase Center for Thompson, there was another reason the Warriors’ home arena was packed. Butler had played five games for the Warriors entering the day, but all were on the road. Finally, he could play in front of Dub Nation.
Clearly, Butler’s home debut was worth the wait.
His first shot attempt, a three from the right corner, fell short. But then Butler found his bread and butter. Spinning off a screen, Butler caught a pass from Draymond Green in stride and threw down a dunk for his first two points on his new home court. Butler in the first quarter scored eight points – two from his dunk, two from a 12-foot jumper and four at the free-throw line.
At halftime, his stats showed what a difference-maker Butler truly is. While being a game-high plus-21, he already was up to 14 points to go along with two rebounds, three assists and one steal. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving only had five points on 2-of-10 shooting and Klay Thompson was held scoreless.
Butler scored only four more points in the second half when his services weren’t as necessary after creating a mountain of momentum in the first half.
Hot Start
To begin the game, the Warriors’ defense looked to be in a lost state of confusion. After the Mavs’ first easy dunk, coach Steve Kerr told his team to wake up. After their second wide-open dunk, Kerr called timeout.
Whatever he said, it worked.
The Warriors immediately responded. Coming out of the timeout, Curry missed a two-point jumper but then stole the ball from an errant Dante Exum pass and found Moses Moody for a 3-pointer. Those three points sparked a dominant 16-0 run by the Warriors.
Once down 9-4, the Warriors then found themselves ahead 20-9. In that span, Curry scored eight points, Green scored three, Moody scored three and Butler added two. Following Kerr’s timeout, the Warriors closed the quarter on a 20-9 run to lead by 15 points, 33-18.
The Warriors grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 18 points in the paint during the first quarter, plus 15 fastbreak points, as well as nine assists, four steals and three blocked shots as a team. Chase Center was rocking, and the Warriors rode the wave the rest of the way.
Fourth Time Isn’t Klay’s Charm
Playing against his former team thus far this season hasn’t just been motivation for Thompson, but also production. He scored 22 points his first game against the Warriors, 29 the next time and 17 in their third matchup. The fourth and final game of the season for Thompson against the Warriors didn’t go as smoothly.
In the first half, Thompson had more turnovers (three), fouls (two) and technical fouls (one) than points scored (zero). He put up three 3-pointers and missed all three. Plus, when called for a tech, ironically nobody loved it more than one of his former longtime teammates.
Thompson found his groove in the third quarter, scoring 11 points while making three 3-pointers. He didn’t score again and was a minus-9 overall. The Warriors and Mavs split their season-long four-game series, where Thompson averaged 19.8 points against Golden State.
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