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GAME ESSENTIALS: Warriors (53-29) vs. Mavericks (52-30), at 6 p.m. (PT). TV: TNT
ODDS: Mavericks -3.5. OVER/UNDER: 217.
PLAYOFF SERIES: Warriors lead 2-0. LAST PLAYOFF MEETING: Warriors won 2007 first-round series 4-2.
The Warriors took care of business on their home court to open the Western Conference finals. And now, they can seemingly lock the series up in Dallas on Sunday night.
Golden State will seek to take a 3-0 series lead, which no team has overcome to win a playoff series in the history of the NBA. And the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have won a road game in every postseason series they’ve ever played in — even going all the way back to their first run in 2013, before Steve Kerr was coach.
But the player perhaps making the most outsized impact on this series so far isn’t any of those three, or even Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić. It’s Warriors center Kevon Looney, who posted back-to-back career nights in Games 1 and 2 to help Golden State win each game. Looney’s Game 2 included a career playoff high 21 points and 12 rebounds, to pick up his second career postseason double-double.
It was rather vital of Looney, too, as Green played one of his worst games in the postseason … ever, only tallying six points, six rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes before fouling out (and nearly getting ejected earlier in the game). Looney’s fellow Milwaukeean, Jordan Poole, added 23 points off the bench. That Curry guy was pretty good, too, scoring 32 points and making six 3-pointers.
Dallas exploded from behind the 3-point line in the first half, making 15-of-27 shots from deep to lead them to 72 points at halftime. But the Mavericks cooled off in the second half, only making six 3-pointers as the offense was held to just 13 points in the third. Dončić finished the night with 42 points, Jalen Brunson added 31 and Reggie Bullock 21, but they need others — notably, Spencer Dinwiddie — to step up.
How does the location and venue change affect the energy of the series? What kind of game do we see out of Green after his poor effort in Game 2? And can the Mavericks defend their home court, or do the Warriors add another road win to their resume and effectively wrap the series up?
Follow along as reporters Madeline Kenney and Shayna Rubin and columnist Dieter Kurtenbach break down those questions and more in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
