After a disappointing first three games of the series, The Dallas Mavericks avoided elimination with a 119-109 over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. Game 5 is Thursday in San Francisco.
Dallas led by as many as 29 at a point during the game and all indications pointed to a blowout. There was a slight moment of panic for the Mavs as the Warriors reserves cut the lead to eight in the fourth quarter.
Improved Performance By Dallas Supporting Cast
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 30 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Unlike Game 3, when Doncic was the only outstanding performer for Dallas, everyone stepped up here. Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points, including four made 3s. Reggie Bullock, who was scoreless and missed all 10 of his shots in Game 3, had 18 points, on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Dallas shot 50 percent for the game and went 20-for-43 from 3-point range (46.5 percent).
For the Warriors? Steph Curry had 20 points and eight assists to lead Golden State. Rookie Jonathan Kuminga had 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Kuminga, Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, Nemanja Bjelica and rookie Moses Moody led the fourth-quarter comeback attempt. The Warriors outscored Dallas 32-11 to start the period. Warriors coach Steve Kerr went back to some of his starters to try to complete the comeback.
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Dallas Game-Plan
Dallas finally hit the open shots that they had been generating all series and it gave them the win. It is almost a factual statement to say that when the Mavericks hit shots in large quantities, they win games. This wasn’t even an excellent game from Luka Doncic. However, he finished with 30 points, shooting just 10-of-26 from the field. This team will be a force to be reckoned with when the role players can convert open looks consistently.
