The Golden State Warriors orchestrated a superb fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. The Mavericks led for the first three quarters, but the Warriors outscored them in the fourth to take a 2-0 series lead.
Warriors Performance
At halftime, the Warriors were down 72-58 but they persevered to cut Dallas’ lead to two points to start the fourth quarter. Jordan Poole came up big for the Warriors scoring 12 of his 23 points off the bench in the final frame. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists to help close it out. Kevon Looney was another big performer, hitting a career-high 21 points with 12 rebounds.
“The little kid in me is so excited just because I grew up watching Loon,” Poole said of Looney’s performance.
“To see him do this on the highest stage, it’s just amazing to be a part of. I don’t think people realize how hard it is alone just to be here. Just seeing the professional that he is, the way he plays and his grit.”
Poole
Dallas failed to hold off Golden State despite Luka Doncic putting up a game-high 42 points. The Mavs scored 72 points and made 15 3-pointers in the first half compared to 45 points in the second. When asked what led to Dallas’ fourth-quarter defensive struggles, coach Jason Kidd said it was the team’s offense.
“We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can’t score,” he said. “That’s something that we have to get better at this time of the year. You can get away with it in the regular season.”
The Mavericks will host the Warriors for Game 3 on Sunday.
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Kevon Looney’s Impact
The Warriors benefited from the brilliance of Looney on the interior. He continued his recent surge with a third consecutive great performance. Looney held up on switches against Doncic, racked up 12 big rebounds and even scored a career-high 21 points. He was a huge part of the win for Golden State in game 2
